Episode 637: Heinrich Himmler Part I - Nazi Number Two

Summary

Last Podcast on the Left – Episode 637: Heinrich Himmler Part I – Nazi Number Two

Date: October 3, 2025
Hosts: Marcus Parks, Henry Zebrowski, Ed Larson
Topic: The rise and pathology of Heinrich Himmler, Hitler’s #2 and architect of the Holocaust, as part of the “Mount Rushmore of Evil” series.

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Episode Overview

This episode marks the beginning of a deep-dive into Heinrich Himmler, exploring his personal history, psychological landscape, early influences, and his pivotal role in the Nazi regime. The hosts set the series as the first in a four-part lineup profiling the most evil men of modern history, aiming both to educate and to draw parallels (and contrasts) to today’s sociopolitical climates. Balancing their signature irreverence with the gravity of the subject, the hosts break down how an awkward, anxious, and hateful man devised systems of mass murder — not as an opportunist, but as a true believer.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introducing the "Mount Rushmore of Evil"

[06:00]

• The episode kicks off a four-part series profiling history’s most monstrous men.
• Himmler is introduced as “arguably the worst” (Ed Larson [08:42]); the hosts discuss why exploring these figures is relevant, relating their obsession with Nazi history to the growth in right-wing movements today.

2. Why Not Focus on Hitler?

[09:16]

• The hosts note that Hitler, while being the most infamous, is almost too known, enigmatic, and discussed.
• To understand Nazi evil more intimately, “you’ve got to study Hitler’s number two guy, Heinrich Luitpold Himmler” (Ed Larson [09:59]).

3. Heinrich Himmler: The Man and Myth

[11:26]

• Himmler was a fervent, idealistic believer in Nazi philosophy, not simply a power-hungry opportunist — “He wasn’t even following Hitler; he was following the ideas” (Marcus Parks [12:01]).
• He personally devised and administered the Holocaust, concentration camps, and death squads — systems based on his maniacal racism and pseudo-scientific beliefs in Aryan superiority.
• Despite leading mass murder, Himmler likely never killed anyone himself; “he would brutally and directly orchestrate the deaths of 20 million people… but incredibly, he did not, as far as we know, ever kill anyone with his own two hands” (Ed Larson [15:17]).

4. Physical and Psychological Profile of Himmler

[13:59]

• Described as “a slack butt, a pigeon chest, a receding chin, and small feminine hands” ([13:59] Marcus quoting a contemporary).
• Constant anxiety, chronic stomach cramps, emotionally dead — “the most feared person in all of Europe… was suffering from a chronic upset tummy” (Marcus Parks [39:40]).
• Himmler’s obsessive focus on order arose from a cold, punitive upbringing under his disciplinarian father ([37:34]).
• Himmler’s diary shows intense self-loathing and a tendency to externalize his failures into hate — “hate was something that Heinrich Himmler was simply born with” (Ed Larson [40:19]).

5. Roots of Himmler’s Hate: Childhood and National Myths

[34:19]

• German culture at the time fostered violence and excessive discipline in children (“25% of suicides by young Germans between 3 and 20… because of fear of punishment” [34:49]), creating a generation susceptible to extremist ideas.
• Himmler obsessively logged his daily life to avoid punishment and please his father ([39:40]).
• Even as a schoolboy, Himmler harbored radical hatred for perceived enemies, initially the French, later Jews and others ([40:24] and [42:03]).

6. Germany’s Fragmented Past and the Rise of Nationalism

[29:36]

• The hosts explain Germany’s relatively recent unification and the discontent of aristocratic classes, laying ground for nationalist and volkisch (ethnic-nationalist) movements.
• Himmler’s sense of lost aristocratic entitlement factored into his drive for a return to a mythical, pure German past ([46:30]).

7. Himmler’s Nerdy Obsessions: Occultism and Pseudoscience

[13:13], [65:27]

• Himmler was “the number one guy when it came to the occult,” obsessed with racist pseudoscience, Aryan myths, and ancient lore. The hosts describe how Himmler drew from sources like the Thule Society and Theosophy, blending fantasy and hate to construct Nazi ideology ([55:26]–[68:12]).
• Term “ariosophy” introduced: “the turning of Theosophy into Aryan-based race doctrine” (Marcus Parks [68:05]).
• Occult elements (e.g., the Atlantis myth) blended with phrenology and eugenics, much of which was imported from American race “science” ([67:10]).

8. Politicizing Hate: Bringing the Nazis to Power

[97:09] – [120:29]

• The hosts clarify that Nazi anti-Semitism wasn’t invented in a vacuum — it reflected and radicalized pre-existing hatreds.
• Early Nazi and right-wing paramilitary groups proliferated in post-WWI Germany, with Himmler participating broadly before joining Hitler ([52:15]).
• Himmler’s motivations were ideological, more invested in Nazi beliefs than Hitler the person ([120:29]).
• The Nazi rise was aided by Germany’s postwar humiliation, hyperinflation, and the shattering of the Weimar Republic during the Great Depression ([95:16]–[126:05]).

9. Parallels and Cautions for Today

[24:11], [106:12]

• Repeated warnings against lazy Hitler/Nazi comparisons, but insistence on learning from the recurring patterns behind right-wing authoritarianism and manipulation.
• The appeal of “return to greatness” slogans and “simple solutions” is timeless for desperate people ([45:17], [106:12]).
• Sharp observations on online radicalization and recruitment, similarities with manosphere/incel rhetoric ([86:52], [109:18]).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Himmler's physicality:
  “He looks like if a potato was a balloon… and if that balloon was overinflated and then tried to be reinflated.”
  — Marcus Parks [10:47]

• On Nazi priorities:
  “Himmler believed he would have to engineer the deaths of up to 50 million people. That was his goal, was 50 million. And… he believed it was not only justified, but morally correct.”
  — Ed Larson [23:06]

• Parallels to contemporary society:
  “If there are any similarities between what is being done in our name and what the Nazis did… we really want to avoid getting anywhere near it for the sake of everyone involved.”
  — Ed Larson [24:11]

• On the appeal of Nazi ideology:
  “People like fast action and are easily fooled by fast action. Hitler offers fast action. It’s a simple solution, it’s easy answers, fast action… He’s taking away all that government red tape, checks and balances.”
  — Marcus Parks [102:48]

• Himmler on relationships:
  “A woman is loved by a real man in three ways: as a beloved child that one must argue with or even punish; as a wife who shares your struggle without shackling you; as a goddess whose feet one must kiss.”
  — Himmler’s college diary, read by Marcus Parks [90:00]

• On Nazi recruitment and violence:
  “In Germany, the difference was that [young men] had absolutely no problem meting out violence whenever told it was the solution. Thankfully, this isn’t the case anymore… but young men are being recruited to buy products, not mass murder — for now.”
  — Ed Larson [109:18]

• On the Nazi use of occult myth:
  “They understood…we need lore, we need world-building. There is no Germanic capital G Spirit… so the Thule Society created a version of the birth of white people—that there was a frozen island named Thule where we crawl out of the ice…”
  — Marcus Parks [56:23]

• On Himmler’s incel energy:
  “He could have used like a body pillow. Oh wow, what a fleshlight attached to a machine could have done for this man. This man… honestly, you look at Himmler and you, my first thought: this man needs some hentai.”
  — Henry Zebrowski & Marcus Parks [86:13]

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Important Timestamps for Critical Segments

• [06:12] – Introduction of “Mount Rushmore of Evil” concept
• [09:59] – Rationale for profiling Himmler, not Hitler
• [11:26] – [13:59] – Himmler’s belief in Nazi ideology and the occult
• [34:19] – [39:40] – Himmler’s childhood, discipline, and neuroses
• [40:24] – [42:03] – Early signs of hate and self-justification
• [55:26] – [68:12] – Thule Society, Atlantis myth, and rise of Aryan pseudoscience
• [74:26] – [75:50] – Lebensraum, volkisch movement, fascist myth-making
• [97:09] – [103:24] – Weimar Republic’s fall, depression, Nazi rise
• [106:12] – [110:03] – Modern parallels: radicalization, memes, online hate
• [120:29] – [127:06] – Himmler’s Nazi Party entry, Beer Hall Putsch, and aftermath

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Tone and Style

• Irreverent & Darkly Comedic: Despite the horrific content, the hosts use self-depreciating humor, comic analogies, and relentless roasting of Himmler’s appearance and social failings.
• Historically Rigorous: The podcast references numerous sources (offered to be posted online), clarifies common misconceptions, and unpacks the evolution of Nazi ideology.
• Pointed Social Commentary: Draws lines between past and present-day radicalization, emphasizing the danger of “simple answers” and unchecked hate, but careful to underscore that modern America is not Nazi Germany — yet, vigilance is required.

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Concluding Notes

This dense, historically textured episode sets up Himmler as both a case study in evil and a lens into the mechanics of authoritarian movements. By stripping away any mythic aura, the hosts paint Himmler as a neurotic, racist mediocrity who weaponized his insecurity and hate on a world-historic scale. The groundwork is laid for coming episodes, which will detail Himmler’s occult obsessions, the building of the Nazi death machine, and how such a pathetic man became Europe’s greatest mass murderer.

Next time: With Hitler out of prison and Himmler deep in occult study, the darkest machinery of Nazi Germany is about to rumble into action.

Transcript

[Marcus Parks]

Morning, Zoe. Got donuts. Jeff Bridges, why are you still living above our garage?

[Henry Zebrowski]

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[Marcus Parks]

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[Ed Larson]

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[Marcus Parks]

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[Marcus Parks]

Wow, impressive.

[Henry Zebrowski]

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[Marcus Parks]

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[Marcus Parks]

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[Marcus Parks]

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[Ed Larson]

Today there's no place to escape to.

[Marcus Parks]

This is the last on the left. That's when the cannibalism started. What was that?

[Henry Zebrowski]

I was listening to lots of Bavarian music.

[Marcus Parks]

Oh yeah.

[Henry Zebrowski]

I gotta say, I don't like it.

[Marcus Parks]

No, it's not good.

[Henry Zebrowski]

I like most genres of music. The Bavarian music is stupid.

[Marcus Parks]

It is.

[Henry Zebrowski]

It's like silly. It is.

[Marcus Parks]

It's silly. Bavaria used to be its own silly little place where Beer Stein used to be president. But then that Beer Stein began to be filled to the very brim with hate. Can you imagine being like a guy at this time period and being like, oh, I want to be Hitler.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

Like you think about Hitler is like, oh, what a dashing young man. They always say this stuff about him, about how like, he was dashing, charismatic. And you see all the videos of him, like, I've been obviously up to my hairline and this stuff. But it's like you just like, forget. Hitler was like a walleye monster, man. Like kind of like they always talk about the charisma of Hitler. And then whenever he's around kids, it reminds me of a certain someone where he's just like, he's got these big huge eyes. Looks like Marty Feldman.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

Yes. He's got crazy, like, he looks like he's frightening.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, well, it's.

[Marcus Parks]

It's Hitler. Yeah, I know, but I'm still saying it's like you go re. Look at it again, like, objectively, you look, look. And you realize, like, oh, he also has those crazy, like, eyeballs.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, well, those crazy eyeballs captured the heart of a nation. Welcome to last podcast on the left, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Marcus Parks and. And I'm here with Henry Zabrowski. How you feeling, Henry?

[Marcus Parks]

I've never been more 41 years old and I can't wait for our audience to get ready to be 41 years old because this fucking series is for the motherfucking dudes. It is for Those who are 41 years old who want to be a 41 year old man. Yeah, if you want to be one. I was explaining to my therapist this morning he just had a child. Time for him to slap on the old horse feed bag of World War II content. Because it is coming for you by the train load.

[Henry Zebrowski]

I feel like this is the series. We could say anything about our wives and not get caught.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah, boys, any day.

[Ed Larson]

My wife is extraordinarily supportive of my World War II love. She knows when I'm down and I'm like, I kind of need something to relax. She's like, do you want to put on your Nazi show? Do you want to put on your Nazi show and maybe relax a little?

[Marcus Parks]

And once again, the beaches were filled with action. Smiling, like, smiling. Drifting off the sleep. But dude, this is. This is. This is our A and E History Channel. Cramming your fucking asshole. Jam packed filled with himler.

[Ed Larson]

So happy about this. And of course we also have. Okay, I'm happy. Just. I'm happy. Okay.

[Marcus Parks]

I'm jammed with it, all right?

[Ed Larson]

It's just there I was talking to my guy this morning and I was saying, like, there's a few things in life that, like, I'm always going to be interested in and I'm going to read and watch everything about it, no matter what. It's Nazis, Manson Family, Jonestown and Hurricane Katrina. So I. You like 911 and 911 too.

[Henry Zebrowski]

You're a fan of 911?

[Ed Larson]

I. I will watch everything about 911. Yes, I will. And we have the man who knows Me Very well. Ed Larson. How you doing, Ed?

[Marcus Parks]

Ed. And my name is Ed.

[Ed Larson]

I like it. Edvard. I. I understand. I understand. Yeah, yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

I did explain. I did explain to my therapist a little bit about how we were running into this. And I was trying to explain to him. I was like, I feel this sort of like. It's like a not happy. It's like the opposite of happy. It's like a bad feeling, but I don't know what the feeling is. And it's been reading all this material and my therapist was like, so you've been reading about Nazis for 36 days or whatever, and you're feeling sad? Absolutely not.

[Ed Larson]

Well, today's series is the first of four profiles on some of the most evil men in the history of the world.

[Marcus Parks]

Yes.

[Ed Larson]

A little something that we're calling the Mount Rushmore of Evil.

[Marcus Parks]

Evil.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Now, before we get started, I want to say that Mount Rushmore itself is evil.

[Ed Larson]

Yes.

[Henry Zebrowski]

It was carved into a mountain in the Black Hills, which was supposed to be land given to the Lakota and Sioux people. It was then taken back to carve these faces of the very men who helped commit the genocide of their people into what is supposed to be the land given to them after the other land was violently taken away.

[Marcus Parks]

Hey, we have a right to take back the land that we took in the first place. That's right.

[Henry Zebrowski]

It was carved by father and son team Gutzon and Lincoln Borgloom who carved the mountain. Guzan Borglum also helped begin the carving of Stone Mountain, which is a tribute to Confederate generals, complete with an altar to the kkk.

[Marcus Parks]

Hey, listen, he was there. He was just hired hand. He just loves rocks.

[Henry Zebrowski]

I could do an entire episode on this, but I important to mention that the Nazis were known to be inspired by America's genocide of the indigenous people, thus starting the Holocaust. I'm sorry, Marcus, please continue 100%.

[Ed Larson]

And we're going to be getting into that later on because you know why the Nazis were so inspired by our conquest of the west is because Hitler loved cowboy novels as a kid. Absolutely loved cowboy novels. It's like, boss, some really great ideas in here.

[Marcus Parks]

God seeing Himmler and some chaps with a big old hat. Nothing would make me happier to see it. A corpse in the dust. You said chaps. Thanks.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Okay, good.

[Ed Larson]

Now these men, and yes, it's going to be all men for the Mount Rushmore of evil. Because we couldn't think of a single woman to compare to these four.

[Marcus Parks]

Hey, we might. The fourth is still up.

[Ed Larson]

Who knows?

[Marcus Parks]

Ladies, you still Got a shot. My step grandmother Baba was a cut.

[Henry Zebrowski]

And Judy was is a as well.

[Marcus Parks]

You remember. Do you remember that Barbara Bush? Who knows? Completely shaven Barbara nine Bush.

[Ed Larson]

Well, these four men are all despicable in their own respect. These are men who perverted entire institutions and in some cases entire countries to fulfill their own sick needs, desires and beliefs. These are the worst of the worst. The ones who used and abused power in ways that caused untold damage on humanity, both physical and psychic. But the first head to go up on the Mount Rushmore of evil just may be the worst we have to offer.

[Marcus Parks]

Who knows?

[Ed Larson]

See, we figured it would be appropriate to kick off this event with a Nazi, because who's more objectively evil than Nazis? He asked his son. Dickhead began writing a comment on our Instagram page about how the Nazis actually really weren't that bad.

[Marcus Parks]

But it's all over the place. I was watching a really interesting documentary about the Thule organization, and I have so many people writing underneath that, being like, no one was going to talk. No one's going to talk about the Jewish secret societies. And you're like, guys, I think we might not be learning the lesson now.

[Ed Larson]

The obvious choice would be Hitler. But personally, I don't think that you really learn about the Nazis by focusing on Hitler specifically, because studying Hitler is more about studying a cult of personality and Hitler. It's still such a mystery anyway, that he almost becomes a little dull after a while.

[Marcus Parks]

It's the. All of the reports about him are both like, they don't make sense. Nothing adds up.

[Ed Larson]

No one's wildly contradictory. And everyone's got a different pet opinion on Hitler. You can't pin him down.

[Marcus Parks]

He's the most written about man since Jesus Christo. Yeah, so it's one of those. And everybody's got something to say, so. Exactly. It's like we're just. Because Hitler wasn't even necessarily even about the Nazis. Hitler was all about Hitler.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Yeah, he wants it too much.

[Ed Larson]

Well, I think if you truly want to understand Nazis, Nazism and the true evil behind the whole movement, the person you've got to study is Hitler's number two guy, Heinrich Luitpold Himmler.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Yeah, number two man.

[Marcus Parks]

Doo doo, man.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Chalky doo doo. You look like it.

[Marcus Parks]

He's bad. He's ugly. He makes Hitler look handsome. I would also say we are aware that there was a Behind the Bastards series that happened, I guess, vaguely recently, but also we've been working on this too long to stop the, like, the trucks we're Doing this.

[Ed Larson]

We've been preparing for this series for almost a year. We'll get into it later. But yeah, we had planned this Himmler series for right now and we're gonna do this right now. We're gon cover Heinrich Himmler. This man who looks like if a potato was a balloon.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah.

[Ed Larson]

And if that balloon was overinflated and then tried to be reinflated.

[Marcus Parks]

To be honest, if you get him, if you could get him those badass, like weird Nazi, no rim glasses. Chad Dabel clam me dressed in Hugo Boss.

[Henry Zebrowski]

You know what I'm saying?

[Marcus Parks]

He really is the least example of what you want. I mean, I'm just glad I'm not white.

[Henry Zebrowski]

He's an Easter egg that demanded it stay white. If Wrigley's Chew was a man.

[Marcus Parks]

Don't comment. Wrigley's Chew.

[Ed Larson]

Now, out of all the high ranking Nazis in the Nazi party, Himmler was by far the one who believed in the philosophy of Nazism most fervently. See, Himmler was an idealist who truly believed that he was doing something good by orchestrating the murders of tens of millions of people across Europe. Just like any fascist government, there were plenty of people who joined up with the Nazis just because it made them feel powerful or because they believed they could take advantage of the situation for their own purposes. But Heinrich Himmler was no naked opportunist in the sense of using the Nazis for personal gain.

[Marcus Parks]

He didn't have the guts to be an individual.

[Ed Larson]

No. While Himmler was a loyal follower of Adolf Hitler until he wasn't, Himmler wasn't necessarily following Hitler like much of Germany did. Himmler was following the ideas. And it was Himmler who created and oversaw the plans to carry those ideas out. See, Himmler was the quintessential white person nerd we spoke of in our Nazi occult series so many years ago. Meaning the thing that Himmler was obsessed with more than anything was white people. Their origins, their history, and their supposed superiority over every other race.

[Marcus Parks]

What a beautiful way that he could have explored all the different ways we eat hard boiled eggs. Yeah. There's so many things that he could have done here that he left on the table. Like gherkin culture. Yeah.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Yeah. We are the most boring looking people.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

I don't know.

[Ed Larson]

Certainly the ugliest babies there are.

[Marcus Parks]

Oh, they could want what we offer. Tuna fish sandwiches being ornate clocks. Honestly, we do amazing things.

[Henry Zebrowski]

We're really good at, like taking things that they made and pretending we made it.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, great.

[Henry Zebrowski]

That's Our shit.

[Marcus Parks]

Spaghetti.

[Ed Larson]

Well, when you read about or hear some of the more off the wall Nazi beliefs about Aryan bloodlines or Atlantis, and you ask who came up with this, the answer is Heinrich Himmler. It's me, because Himmler was the Nazis number one guy when it came to the occult. Basically, Himmler studied every racist, occult and pseudo scientific writer he could find, and he cobbled together both the belief system and the wild set of racial purity rules that every Nazi eventually followed. But just like Hitler himself, Heinrich Himmler was anything but the Aryan ideal. According to one source, he had, quote, and I love this description, a slack butt, a pigeon chest, a receding chin, and small feminine hands.

[Marcus Parks]

You knock that mustache off or you just take it down a shade. That's Lena Dunham. I mean, like, she'd be amazing as him in the movie. She should try to play him.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Oh my God, that's exactly what he deserved.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah.

[Ed Larson]

As one fellow Nazi party official put.

[Marcus Parks]

It, quote, if I look like Himmler, I would not talk about race.

[Ed Larson]

And that was a fellow Nazi. Now to the point of appearance. One author said that Himmler was considered to be awkward looking for a German, but his inner world certainly reflected his outward appearance. For example, Himmler was plagued with constant anxiety, which caused horrific stomach cramps throughout his entire life. Emotionally, Himmler was effectively dead and approached every social interaction, whether it be romantic or platonic, through the lens of what would be best for the Aryan race and his own personal agenda. But while Himmler sounds and looks like an absolutely ridiculous figure, he was at one time easily the most feared person in all of Europe. And he would brutally and directly orchestrate the deaths of 20 million people at most, and 11 million at the very least. But incredibly, he did not, as far as we know, ever kill anyone with his own two hands.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Tiny hands.

[Marcus Parks]

I don't think he could clap like, I don't think he had. No, because it's just the ultimate example of a guy that couldn't, wouldn't, and then basically punish the whole world for it. Which is. Sounds vaguely familiar.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Yeah, I imagine he would constantly look at his hands and his fingers and just be like, CRO.

[Marcus Parks]

What is wrong with you? He was so sad. His hands were so small that it didn't even make his like, penis look big. Like, it was like one of those for a day. All he could think of was how small his hands were. If only I could wrap the fingers around the shaft. You're giving him too strong of a voice. Hitler's Hitler is the full breasted one.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Oh, well, I mean, talks like this.

[Marcus Parks]

Oh, little him is the most. He's the most evil man in the world. Oh, everyone's going to buy me, won't they? Going to bend over backwards for me.

[Ed Larson]

It's a good caricature. But Himler could. He could bring out the hot when he wanted to.

[Marcus Parks]

I. Oh, I know.

[Ed Larson]

Now, the personality trait that made Himmler so interested in the white race was the same that made him an excellent administrator. In his pursuit of Aryan purity and German dominance over Europe, Himmler became the main architect of not only the Holocaust, but of the wholesale slaughter of the people of Eastern Europe. See, while the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust is a horrifically large number, it only tells part of the story of the mass murder perpetrated by the Nazis and organized specifically by Heinrich Himmler. Himmler was the creator and administrator of the concentration camps where up to 2 million people were executed. These 2 million included not only Jews, but LGBT people, Communists, and basically anyone the Nazis didn't like.

[Marcus Parks]

Again, I'm Chadwick Boseman, according to him. You mean, like, I am the most foreign man to exist to him. I want you to understand that.

[Ed Larson]

Well, you're a Slav.

[Marcus Parks]

Yes?

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

And I get more Slavic every day.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. The concentration camps, however, my back's wider than my front.

[Marcus Parks]

My back is. My back is coming around. You see that? My back is getting so, like, I'm Polish as hell, dude.

[Henry Zebrowski]

You're good at that.

[Ed Larson]

The concentration camps, however, were just the end game of extermination. It began with another of Heinrich Himmler's creations, the Einsatzgruppen, whose story we will finally tell in full. During this series, we've been dancing around the Einsatzgruppen for years. We're getting really hardcore into it on this one. Cool.

[Marcus Parks]

Yay.

[Ed Larson]

Good.

[Marcus Parks]

Can I be the funny one in the Eisenstrup? Do they have a Goldberg?

[Ed Larson]

No. Like a Goldberg? Certainly not. Comprised of seven death squads made up of just a few hundred men each, the Einsatzgruppen terrorized, tortured and murdered their way through Eastern Europe like a pack of psychotic locusts. Under Himmler's orders, the 3,000 members of the Einsatzgruppen murdered between 2 and 3 million people face to face using a horrific variety of tactics, which makes Himmler's death squads quite possibly the most prolific killers in world history. Think about that. 3,000 men, 3 million deaths.

[Henry Zebrowski]

How come no one went after them?

[Ed Larson]

That's one of the. That's actually one of the massive, massive injustices of the Nuremberg Trials is the vast majority of the Einsatzgruppen, vast majority of them. They faced zero consequence, absolutely nothing. Because you know why? There were so many Nazis.

[Marcus Parks]

There are many Nazis and they were trying to get all of them. What could you do? So they tried to flip them and then a lot of them, they're like, well, maybe they won't do it again.

[Ed Larson]

Well, the problem was that America went in and said like, okay, we're going to prosecute every Nazi. And then they looked around and said, oh, shit, we don't have anyone to run this country because they're all Nazis.

[Marcus Parks]

Well, that's what we got into Operation Paperclip. And then it turns into all that. And then we had to find out out which Nazis we decided to side with. And that began the great American slide down. So, yep. So that's all this is, a weekend. We just jumped into another series.

[Ed Larson]

Now, Himmler was also incredibly dangerous to other Nazis. As we all know, right wing fascist governments are filled with people who absolutely fucking hate each other. And the survival of the fittest ethos that they usually live by routinely results in them ripping each other apart in a quest to reach the top.

[Marcus Parks]

That is the only true, I guess, immediate justice of all of these people we always have to deal with is that right wing people have to hang out with other right wing people. Yeah. And these guys all have to. The Nazis have to hang out with other Nazis. Yeah. And guess what other Nazis are bad at. They being friends. They're bad at being friends. They're bad at being co workers. They're not cool like guy. They're not cool team members.

[Henry Zebrowski]

It's like that Anders Bravik shit when he tried to join that one group and he couldn't.

[Marcus Parks]

No, it's because everybody, they're mean. Not just mean, crazy.

[Ed Larson]

But since Heinrich Himmler was a sniveling worm of a man, he instinctively knew how to navigate his way through a fascist government. By waiting in the background for other Nazis to make mistakes, Himmler set himself up to scoop up whatever power they had and add it to his own. This is how Himmler came to be head of both the SS and the Gestapo, which were both folded into Himmler's massive administrative mechanism of death. And the worst part is, Himmler was so incredibly good at what he did that if Hitler had focused his energies entirely on Russia, instead of fighting a war on two fronts, Himmler's genocidal vision of a pure Aryan Europe, at least, at least in Eastern Europe, it might have become a reality.

[Marcus Parks]

And I'm gonna save the audience from Marcus and I's. When we had our production call, which from there we jumped into Marcus and I doing just like, left the meeting, began to do a 25 minute version of Civ 6 against each other where we played. We like went off and we just started talking about alternative history and we were, what if? Oh, but what if they slide in? Then you have a Nazi run Moscow. What if? Then instead we're fighting them on the Eastern front with Japan. We got to go against. All of a sudden we're nuking Moscow. Nazi run Moscow. And it was like, it's awesome. Yeah, cool.

[Henry Zebrowski]

None of that's real though, right?

[Marcus Parks]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[Ed Larson]

None of it's real at all. But the thing is, this series is not going to be about military history because Heinrich Himmler was not a soldier. While the Einsatzgruppen were certainly a part of the military, Himmler's role for the majority Nazi Germany was not about winning battles and taking land. Rather, Himmler's job was to engineer murder on a scale not seen before or since, all in the pursuit of some half baked romantic ideal. And this is true, that the German people's ultimate destiny was to be a race of pure blooded warrior farmers spread across the whole of Europe.

[Marcus Parks]

Every single Nazi, every single one of these guys that think they're going to do this, does any one of them have the upper body strength to do any of this?

[Ed Larson]

At least the guys in the upper echelons.

[Marcus Parks]

Imagine Himmler with a pitchfork with bales of hay. Oh, there's so many tiny bugs.

[Ed Larson]

We'll get into it.

[Marcus Parks]

There's so many big bales of hay filled with large protruding bugs.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Yeah, they're all equipment managers, you know what I'm saying?

[Marcus Parks]

Yes.

[Ed Larson]

Well, to accomplish his vision, Himmler believed he would have to engineer the deaths of up to 50 million people. That was his goal, was 50 million. And true to his spot on the Mount Rushmore of evil, Himmler believed that this mass murder was not only justified, but morally correct. Now, just so you know, this series is not going to be solely about Heinrich Himmler. By telling Himmler's story, we're able to tell the story of the Nazi party itself. We're gonna be talking about how the Nazis came to power, how they were able to accomplish such monstrous acts, and why the people of Germany allowed it to happen. Happen. In doing so, we hope to show not just the similarities of what's happening in our modern world, but also the differences which are just as important, see, the people in power right now are not literal Nazis, because as you're going to hear during this series, things were far worse in every possible way in Nazi Germany, even from the very beginning. But I will say that certain things rhyme between the current administration and Nazi Germany. And the point of talking about it is that if there is any parallel between what any government does and what the Nazis did, then people are going to get hurt, freedoms are going to be curtailed, and people are going to die. See, the reason why it's so easy to make comparisons between the current administration and the Nazi party is that, well, the Nazis were at their core an extremist right wing group. They just took things further than any party before or since. That means that any extreme right wing or conservative group is going to touch tips with the Nazis at some point or another. Another simply by virtue of coming from similar places of intolerance, reactionary rhetoric, and the belief that they should be able to tell other people how to live their lives. Not all birds are blackbirds, etc. Etc. That being said, I think that it is very much in the best interest of our nation to point out if there are any similarities between what is being done in our name and what the Nazis did. Because while I don't think we're headed in exactly the same direction, we really do want to avoid getting anywhere near it for the sake of everyone involved.

[Marcus Parks]

I saw Cabaret this year. I don't want to do it. I don't want to be in Cabaret. I saw Cabaret. I don't want to be the mc. Okay. I would just like, you know, like, let's just like if. Even if we're close, that's. I think you're saying is right, Marcus, is that it's not that we're, we're. We're there. It's just that, like, even if we get even kind of close, we should try to avoid that. Yeah.

[Ed Larson]

You really want to start ringing that bell?

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah, I would, I would. Because seems to be concerning, especially when.

[Henry Zebrowski]

There'S Nazi salutes during the inauguration.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. You really want to ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. You want to ring that bell and be like, ding, ding, ding, ding.

[Marcus Parks]

All right.

[Henry Zebrowski]

The first hour, huh?

[Marcus Parks]

I don't think you guys get it that it was a joke and you know how these are. Yeah. It's so easy to make that. It's just, it's an easy joke. We do it all the time, inside stories, joking. We always get the crowd going with zig HS before we're going because we want People to be energized. Yeah. Pumped up.

[Ed Larson]

It's a reference.

[Marcus Parks]

I also did deep into research why Hitler's zig. He was doing different.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Oh, yeah.

[Ed Larson]

Why was it the so called Roman salute?

[Marcus Parks]

His zig. He was different because he was to be hed.

[Ed Larson]

Oh, okay.

[Marcus Parks]

And so it's a receptive. Heil. It was very interesting. I did not know that. That he did it on purpose.

[Ed Larson]

The bottom. Yep. So what his.

[Henry Zebrowski]

His went straight up and the other one went across. Right.

[Marcus Parks]

What are you doing there?

[Henry Zebrowski]

What was like.

[Marcus Parks]

No, they would do. He would do the.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

Back one. You do the back one. It's a casual one.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. They would go forward. He would go back.

[Marcus Parks]

Yes.

[Henry Zebrowski]

He's cool breeze.

[Marcus Parks]

The real reason why it's because doing the zig Height too long hood is shoulder.

[Henry Zebrowski]

And his tiny little wrist.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. Now, as far as sources go, we've been working on this series in one form or another for nearly a year. And since we wanted to do this right, we have no less than eight sources from books alone. So in the interest of expediency, we're going to post our full source list on our Instagram page instead of listing them one by one. So we can jump directly into the story of Heinrich Himmler and the Nazi party.

[Marcus Parks]

So put on your big wool bathing suit, light up a cigar and tell your wife to go in the other room and shut up. Now it's time for some Nazi history, Himmler style.

[Ed Larson]

Or invite your wife, as she is, if she is also into history as much as you are. Because sometimes that is the case if.

[Marcus Parks]

She won't get too hysterical and if she can possibly sit and pay attention for long enough without you having to curb her like a child titled.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Have you ever read Mein Kampf?

[Ed Larson]

No. Could you?

[Henry Zebrowski]

Like, how do you do that? It's a book.

[Marcus Parks]

You buy it.

[Ed Larson]

You buy it.

[Marcus Parks]

Really?

[Henry Zebrowski]

They sell it at like Barnes and.

[Marcus Parks]

Noble, United States of America. We technically still are a free country that allows you to read whatever you want.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Well, I know you can read it if you want it, but can you buy it?

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can buy it. Really? Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

The money I do, I've been getting the last couple years actually. Kind of crazy.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, yeah. The copyright came up. Henry scooped it out, you know, and now he gets 50 cents on the dollar for every Minecomp, so.

[Marcus Parks]

Thank you. Oh, good. Thank you. Rob just brought up the Amazon listing for Minecamp. Oh, on Kindle.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

Oh, wow.

[Ed Larson]

And it's 1199.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Unearnable on Kindle.

[Marcus Parks]

It's Boring?

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, it's very. It's very boring.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Is it boring?

[Ed Larson]

No, it's pretty good. It's not bad. We're gonna get into Mein Kampf on episode two because Mein Kampf was a massive inspiration to Heinrich Himmler. But yes, it's boring, it's repetitive and it's very whiny, as is everything that these fucking people do. They're such fucking whiners.

[Marcus Parks]

They're such baby.

[Ed Larson]

God damn, they are.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Himmler. Isn't that what he called his mother? Mein cunt. I'm sorry.

[Ed Larson]

Now, Heinrich Himmler was born in the German city of Munich in the year 1900 to an upper middle class couple with pretensions towards German royal. Himmler's father, Professor Gebhard Himmler, was the personal tutor to Prince Heinrich of Bavaria, who was a member of an ancient Germanic royal family whose lineage dated back 700 years. And so when Professor Himmler's second child was born, he named him after his benefactor, Prince Heinrich.

[Marcus Parks]

His father was a. And he's a piece of. Just named him after a prince he works for.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, he named him. The prince even agreed to be Heinrich Himmler's godfather father. That meant that Heiner Kemmler came into this world already believing that he was far more important than he really was, simply because his father was a tutor to a barbarian prince.

[Marcus Parks]

Now, is it wrong to say a part of where the main issue of where we're going to see all of this bad stuff come out of is that Germany was like a bunch of little provinces for a while that was actually only grouped together, not that recently. Germany 90s. Right.

[Ed Larson]

Germany itself as a country is relatively new. Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

And so every section had its own, like, history and its own lineage and its own, like, ruling classes and shit. So as things were slammed together, it changed the fabric of the aristocracy. Right. Like it changed the fabric of all these things. And these are people that are really looking to stay in the aristocracy.

[Ed Larson]

Yes. The changes that came when the aristocracy went away. The aristocracy did not like it.

[Marcus Parks]

They don't like it.

[Ed Larson]

They really hate it when they lose their power and when things change and when the money start coming up.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah. When the money that they were handed just because their father came inside of a woman and made you, and then you get to make that money. They were really sad when that system wasn't working for them anymore.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Henry Zebrowski]

So he said, what did he teach the Bavarian prince? Like how to make pretzels and shit.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

Honestly. How to whittle shoes. How to un. Whittle yourself out of shoes. That's the hardest part.

[Henry Zebrowski]

They also had widow gloves, widdle gloves.

[Marcus Parks]

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[Marcus Parks]

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[Ed Larson]

Being a professor is important to Heinrich Himmler's development. And not just because it gave Heinrich his bookish habits. It also inured Heinrich to institutionalized violence like so many other Germans of his generation. See, even after extreme punishment by parents and school teachers had subsided in other parts of Europe, it alive and well in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Germany, when so many future Nazis were being born and raised. And this is important not just to Himmler's development, but to the development of all Nazis.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah. Of this generation.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. In Germany, punishment towards children was so severe that between 1906 and 1913, 25% of suicides by young Germans between the ages of three and 20. And yes, I did say the age of three was the result. Result A fear of punishment for something they'd done or sustained abusive treatment from their parents. A three year old committing suicide.

[Marcus Parks]

How bad at letters? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Super bad with blocks. Super bad at being a dinosaur. Sometimes you gotta, you know, correct the kid being like Tyrannosaurus rex, has little arms, was a scavenger. I'm gonna hit you with a book.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Sometimes they fought back though. Watch the White Ribbon. That movie's awesome.

[Marcus Parks]

No, the White Ribbon. I love the White R. The White Ribbon's about. Have you ever seen that? No, but that's it. Save the White Ribbon for later because the White Ribbon is for after the kids became Nazis and the kids started to understand that they could get stuff out of society by being Nazis as well.

[Henry Zebrowski]

I, I own it on Blu Ray. I will share it with you.

[Marcus Parks]

It's fun to watch.

[Ed Larson]

Very nice.

[Marcus Parks]

It's about how kid Nazis ratchet out.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. Okay. I understand. This extreme strictness and frequent punishment that was placed on kids like Heinrich Himmler is basically meant that violence as a solution was bred into German people. And because Himmler's father was a schoolmaster, that meant that Himmler got it double.

[Marcus Parks]

But I will say, you know, because it was so across the board, there was a lot of people that came out of this process that didn't turn into the leaders of the Holocaust. Like some of them did stuff like Einstein. There's some There guys in there did some stuff. There was the guy that made like. There's got to be some guy did Tubular Bells or some guy.

[Ed Larson]

That's Mike Oldfield.

[Marcus Parks]

But like, are you British? Who's the other one?

[Ed Larson]

That was the seventies.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Orf.

[Marcus Parks]

Maybe. Maybe a new. Maybe some guy made a new cheese. There's gotta be some guys in there that did good things.

[Ed Larson]

No, there were. There was Barthold Brecht, Max Ernst. You know, we're gonna talk about all these people later's boring.

[Marcus Parks]

I did Brecht.

[Ed Larson]

I love Brecht.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah, I know, but when's the last time you saw it?

[Ed Larson]

I own. I own the record. I listened to it fairly.

[Marcus Parks]

No, you're like the. You're talking about his. The company.

[Ed Larson]

I like the music.

[Marcus Parks]

I like Three Penny Oranges Be in his plays. I was in his play. I was in the Good woman of Sesh 1. I played an Asian man.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Oh, one of the Axis of Evil.

[Ed Larson]

No, I.

[Marcus Parks]

Well, you don't.

[Henry Zebrowski]

So Himler's dad probably beat the out of him.

[Ed Larson]

Himmler's dad definitely beat the out.

[Henry Zebrowski]

That's why he looked like Silly Putty.

[Marcus Parks]

He looks like a. He looks like. Himler looks like Marcus's fidget.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, my. Physically. The stuff that I. You know, just sort of the. The stuff that keeps me from moving around too much and being distracting on videos.

[Henry Zebrowski]

He literally broke the mold.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah.

[Ed Larson]

Now more than anything, Heinrich Himmler learned from his father that life was nothing with. Without order. Himmler's father set up an extremely strict system of rules and prohibitions for Heinrich and his brothers. And their obedience was monitored precisely and pedantically. Himmler, of course, would one day take this philosophy and apply it first to the Nazis paramilitary wing, the ss. And then Himmler would apply those rules to the German people themselves, before finally forcing it upon any state that the Nazis conquered in their quest for world domination.

[Marcus Parks]

I think pedantic is one of the true signs of the. Of this whole culture.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

Is it? Because you got to remember that too. They're going after things. They're criminalizing things that are normal.

[Ed Larson]

Yes.

[Marcus Parks]

And that's a. That's when they. When you hear the term that I heard A lot in these, these documentaries I've been watching of Nazification.

[Ed Larson]

Yes.

[Marcus Parks]

That's. The things that they do is they take things that you first thought was a normal concept and they make them crimes. So then you're committing a crime and all of a sudden you're criminal.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Yeah, I know. I'm probably going to ask this question a bunch of times, this series. What does pedantic mean?

[Ed Larson]

Pedantic basically means like following rules in a very small and useless way where it's like, we're like, you're following rules that don't. You don't really need to follow them, but you're following them for the sake of following them, even if they don't really make sense or if you're like, why the fuck am I doing this?

[Marcus Parks]

At some point, what's called. It's malicious compliance is applied where they create very ornate rules and then they hold YouTube them to the very, very letter and they're almost impossible to follow.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. Like, technically you didn't do that. Right. It's that.

[Marcus Parks]

But instead of you just being like, getting into merit, you could, like, go to a concentration camp.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, yeah. You die.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Sounds like you used the right word.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. Now, not surprisingly, Professor Himmler's system of rules and prohibitions created an incredibly neurotic son. Heinrich Himmler was always anxious, which caused the aforementioned constant stomach cramps, meaning that the most feared person in Europe suffered from a chron upset. Tommy.

[Marcus Parks]

Oh, I wish I could eat more popcorn, but it's too rich. So nervous being a little boy. So filled with hate.

[Ed Larson]

Because Himmler was so neurotic, he tersely recounted all of his activities in a diary from a young age, perhaps to ensure that his father knew exactly what Himmler was doing at all times and could therefore avoid punishment. For example, in 1911, we know that Heinrich Himmler went swimming 37 times.

[Marcus Parks]

Oh, I didn't know Tylenol was around then.

[Ed Larson]

But interestingly, it seems like hate was something that Heinrich Himmler was simply born with.

[Marcus Parks]

Thank you.

[Ed Larson]

While his virulent anti Semitism would appear later, Himmler was known in grade school for having radical views against the French. He just chose them. I ha. I hate the French. And then he would just go off on, like, all the reasons why he hated the French and why the French sucked as a child.

[Marcus Parks]

He really did have a natural instinct to understand that. He's like, we could see it. How many times have we seen these evil nerds take over? Shit. It's like you could see him understand immediately as a little Boy. Oh, I'm ugly, sickly, uncharming piece of shit. How am I. I'm gonna need to be in charge.

[Ed Larson]

How can I make. And also how can I make myself feel better?

[Marcus Parks]

Yes.

[Ed Larson]

By pointing out the shortcomings of others and by creating shortcomin comings for other entire races of people.

[Marcus Parks]

And there are several quotes in this that I had to read to my therapist that I don't know even where to share them, where I had to explain where. It's very interesting that you could see this little boy Himmler, because of his diary. There are so many clips of his thoughts that if you put the words he was saying and put next to them pictures of some very current human beings that are talking on the Internet, you would see the exact same words coming out of a 15 year old Himmler's mouth. Yeah. Out of the 15 year olds that we're seeing that are being taught by the malicious evil people that are talking to them about this stuff. Especially about women.

[Ed Larson]

Yes.

[Marcus Parks]

And it started with women and abstract hate.

[Ed Larson]

Yes. And we're going to get into that later on. Way into that.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Do you think he hated the French because of how much they cooked with cream?

[Marcus Parks]

If you make me want to dig it. But I'll get the poopadoops. I wish I could have a chicken Alfredo, but I won't because it just makes me all gurgly burglie and makes me dumpers loose so I can stick to my hard breakfast. If there's any favors that I could have just been a sauce. And my stomachs. I'm doing him. My goal is to do him as the. It's like I'm casting a movie.

[Ed Larson]

You're Little Lord Fauntleroying him a little bit.

[Marcus Parks]

Yes, he is right now. Yes, yes. He will be Big Lord Fauntleroy very soon.

[Ed Larson]

But the thing is, it could be that Himler's hate may have been born from his own shortcomings, which were many.

[Marcus Parks]

It's almost like they were just his comings. Yeah.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Or non comings.

[Ed Larson]

As I said earlier, Himmler was not the ideal Aryan. He was a small, short, sickly child whose round spectacles only accentuated his round face and his legendarily weak chin did him no favors either.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah, yeah. It's a bad one.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. Heinrich, he's. He's one of those guys that, you know, he's somehow. He's skinny, but he also has seven chins.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah, yeah.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Looks like brain. Like Pinky in the brain.

[Ed Larson]

He does, yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

He looks like somebody. I want to knock in the mouth. Yeah, that's what he looks like.

[Henry Zebrowski]

A peach sofa, an abandoned model home.

[Ed Larson]

Heinrich also complained repeatedly in his diaries about his frequent bouts with illness. He had many, many col. And, you know, to kind of fight against all this. He tried bettering himself through daily weight training with dumbbells, but he was too sickly to get anywhere with lifting weights.

[Marcus Parks]

Can I get somebody to remake the picture of Peewee Herman working out at the bottom? Can I get that with putting Himler's face, body, because that's, like, perfect now.

[Ed Larson]

Even though Himler would have been killed immediately, if he had ever stepped foot on a battlefield, he would have gotten.

[Marcus Parks]

Bit by a bug. He, like, he would have been what? That's how Himler dies on the battlefield.

[Ed Larson]

O that. He's got death by trench foot written all over.

[Marcus Parks]

He was supposed to be cannon fodder.

[Ed Larson]

Yes.

[Marcus Parks]

His ears are innies.

[Ed Larson]

He was still fascinated with every aspect of World War I, which broke out when Himmler was 14 years old. He wrote that had he been old enough, he would have been, quote, out there like a shot. I'd be out there. I need to be out there.

[Marcus Parks]

But I can't be out there.

[Ed Larson]

I'm too young.

[Marcus Parks]

I'm too much of a boy. I will be so frightened by my tenacity. I'm coming for you. The dirt is so hard. Wahlberg, does anyone have inserts for boots? My. My boots are attacking the soles of my feet.

[Ed Larson]

See, for all his evil, Heinrich Himmler was, at his heart, a romantic. Like most Nazis and like many people on the extreme right wing, Himmler was a fantasist obsessed with glory in the. The present that would result in a return to a past that never actually existed.

[Marcus Parks]

I'm just going to say this once is how many posters I read while watching these documentaries that say, make Germany great again. And it is legitimately the quote. And so just remember that, okay? Because it's hard to get away from this. We're not trying to turn into Rachel Maddow here. I don't want to be. I don't want to be on the MSNBC side of things, but I just need you to understand that. That they are literally that. That it' slogan.

[Ed Larson]

It's the same. It's. The playbook is exactly the same.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Yes, Also, Reagan used the same slogan.

[Marcus Parks]

Exactly.

[Ed Larson]

No, the. The playbook is the same across the.

[Marcus Parks]

Board, and Reagan at least had the balls to get shot.

[Ed Larson]

But for all the glory World War I could offer Himmler, if only he were old enough, it also took away Himmler's connection to Bavarian royalty. Heinrich's godfather and namesake, Prince Heinrich, was killed in Romania in 1916, which removed the Himmler family's privile access to the Bavarian court. Himmler's dreams of being attached to German royalty were dashed. And personally, I think that Prince Heinrich's death instilled a drive within Himmler to return to a position of power and importance at any cost.

[Marcus Parks]

Because he knows 700 years ago, little Himmler was dead on the gate of a feudal lord, his bones hanging from it, begging for food. In any other generation, generation Himmler is a runoff. Hitler is the guy the tribe, like, literally leaves behind. He is a waste of physical potential. He's a waste of mental potential. And he knows that. He knows that if I don't become dictator, no one's ever gonna like me.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Yeah, they used to be Germans, used to be barbarians. They were fucking giant mad men.

[Marcus Parks]

But they also were. There was levels, like, because Vikings actually kind of had some sort of. Sort of interesting matriarchal societies. There was stuff in there that wasn't like this. They are going to go ahead and make up a world that didn't exist after this to explain how the Nazis got to there. So it wasn't like, in the end, they were just people. They were like nomadic tribes living their own little lives.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. But they definitely find it. They create a narrative that fits the world that they want to live in. And they tell people, oh, this is the truth, when in fact, it's just a fantasy that they created now. When Himmler was 17 years old, his father used all of his remaining influence with the Bavarian Royal Household to get Heinrich accepted into the army as an officer in training cadet. But ironically, Himmler's privileged position made it impossible to lie about his age in order to enter the war early. Like so many other teenagers.

[Marcus Parks]

We were so close.

[Ed Larson]

So close. As a result, Heinrich did not qualify for officer training until after armistice day on November 11, 1918, when the war was all said and done. Day after my wedding anniversary. But Himmler still went through with his army training anyway, although he soon discovered that military life was actually quite difficult for a sniveling, sickly bookworm such as himself. Himmler wrote dozens upon dozens of letters to his parents complaining about the food, the bed, and how homesick he was. He would berate his parents for not writing him enough, would chastise them for not sending a message or a package. Littered literally every single day. And these are. And Henry, please, I want you to read these directly. No no. Give it some sauce, but don't add any him. In one letter, Himmler wrote, quote, Dearest.

[Marcus Parks]

Parents, today again, I have got nothing from you. That's mean.

[Ed Larson]

He is 18 years old.

[Marcus Parks]

Then I. No one cares about what I did in a canoe today. Nobody cares. Not so toad.

[Ed Larson]

Then when his parents still didn't write him back, he wrote, quote.

[Marcus Parks]

Dear mother, thank you so much for your news, which I did not get. It's so horrid of you not to write again. Mean mummy. Mean bad mummy. No good to me. Not good to little Hymie, the most.

[Ed Larson]

Feared man in Europe.

[Marcus Parks]

Oh, good me to. To me. Mommy, show me teeth.

[Ed Larson]

He's not 14. He's not 12. He's not writing from summer camp. He is writing from officer training school.

[Marcus Parks]

Mommy, how big was your belly when I was inside? Can you show me how big was it? Was as big as a beach ball or was it a cantaloupe? Answer me, mommy. Oh, I hate the Jews.

[Henry Zebrowski]

I just can't help but think that his name, his nickname is Heine.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Which is like a Jewish name for butt.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah. His wife called him Heiney. We'll get next episode. We'll get there now.

[Ed Larson]

Heinrich considered himself a failure for never being able to fulfill what he believed was his true calling. Despite his obviously weak nature and physical shortcomings, Himmler believed that it was his destiny to be an officer in a war to defend Germany. And he'd miss that destiny by just a few months.

[Marcus Parks]

That's not how destiny works.

[Ed Larson]

Nope. Additionally, Himmler, like many Germans, was dismayed about how the war had ended. Except Himmler, of course, took it personally.

[Marcus Parks]

Why did we lose? It was cause I wasn't there. I. I was the X factor.

[Ed Larson]

In Himmler's view, the Bavarian government had been overthrown by communists and anarchists who had replaced the Bavarian royal family, to which he'd only had the slightest connection. But for Himmler, the dissolution of the royal family was a great loss. And he, like so many other Germans, was starting to give serious consideration to the rumor that the German people had been, quote, unquote, stabbed in the back by the Jews who had supposedly conspired to orchestrate Germany Germany's defeat.

[Marcus Parks]

But aren't they also in Germany? Why the fuck would they be orchestrating the defeat of the country in which they're in, Marcus?

[Ed Larson]

Because they're there to make, the story.

[Marcus Parks]

Goes, cabals are moving all the revolutions.

[Ed Larson]

They're there to make money. The whole thing is so they can make money on the misery of the German people, they were making money before, but they could make more money.

[Marcus Parks]

They can't actually people you actually make more. It's shown economically.

[Ed Larson]

Why are you arguing with me? I'm not.

[Marcus Parks]

I don't subscribe to. Stop believing. Why are you saying these things? It works.

[Ed Larson]

It doesn't make any sense. None of it makes any sense. No. And that's what we'll get into again and again is that these theories about the Jews and these conspiracy theories about the Jews is that basically what it does is it gives these people an answer for everything to be able to go like of course the Jews. I should have known. It's again and again they're able to use it for anything.

[Henry Zebrowski]

I know my Jewish father, father was horrible with money.

[Marcus Parks]

It doesn't work like that. Not all black birds, right?

[Henry Zebrowski]

All birds are blackbirds.

[Ed Larson]

And so in April of the year 1919, Heinrich Himmler put his natural born hate into practice by becoming a right wing youth just after graduating high school. And he joined no less than two paramilitary units led by extreme right wing figures. Now two paramilitary units, that sounds a little overblown, but that's one of the mistakes people make when thinking about Nazi Germany. It's not like the Nazis were some right wing aberration that just happened to find their way into power through deceit and cleverness. Instead, the Nazis just happened to be the one extreme right wing party in Germany out of many who came out on top in the end. And Heinrich Himmler claimed membership in a fair amount of these groups throughout his 20s before he finally settled on the one led by Herr Hitler. Now One of the two right wing groups that Heinrich Himmler joined in 1919 was led by a man named Rudolph von Sebo who is the chairman of a group that was extremely important to the development of certain elements of the Nazi party and to Himler's own interest in the occult. In addition to running right wing paramilitary groups, Rudolph von Subtendorf was also the chairman of the infamous occult organization known as the Tula Society who were using the swastika as their symbol years before the Nazis co opted it as their own.

[Marcus Parks]

Yes, we were doing it long before it was cool. Yes, I was also. I saw the year when there's only 25 people people in there and they kept saying 9 9, 9, 99 9.

[Henry Zebrowski]

So why have I heard that the swastika comes from like Japanese culture?

[Ed Larson]

It's not so like Japanese. Like it is a, it's a Hindu thing, like Buddhist cultures, Indian, Asian culture. It's an ancient symbol. But it's just a symbol of, like, good luck. And it also. It looks cool. Like, that's. That's what they like, wow, that looks great.

[Marcus Parks]

There are things that were done in this time period that were done literally for stylistic reasons and for propaganda reasons.

[Ed Larson]

I mean, I would say that 90% of what they did was done for style and propaganda.

[Marcus Parks]

And Rudolph on Sebattendorf was a truly very mysterious, dark character in all of this because he came from Turkey and he came from essentially maybe being one of the people that ran guns to the same guys that did the Armenian genocide. So Rudolph and Zabotan Dorset has been this kind of proto understanding of mixing. Mixing international espionage with racist ideologies and learning how to use them in political worlds. So this guy Rudolph ons abouttendorf is like a giant dark hole into history that I started to tumble down. And then you're like, oh, okay, this is. It's this whole other series. Jerry. Yeah.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Have you ever seen the. The swastikas that they use as design in Glendale on all the light posts and stuff?

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah. Weird. Yeah, dude. But it's like, again, they're still being.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Like, well, we had it first. Yeah, it's an easy design, you know.

[Ed Larson]

Founded in 1919 by a war veteran named Walter Now House, who was obsessed with the Teutonic knights responsible for the Crusades, the Tula Society was the group that gave the Nazis their flavor, so to speak.

[Marcus Parks]

Your swerve.

[Ed Larson]

See, the reason why the Tula Society had chosen the swastika as their symbol was because it was ancient and it was in no way conn Christianity. It was therefore in no way connected to the Jews because the Tula Society was naturally anti Semitic. But as it went many times with these people, they found a way to turn their hatred of someone else into a plus for themselves. The reasoning went that if the swastika wasn't Christian and it wasn't Jewish, then it had to have originated with ancient white people. And the only ancient white people around were the Aryan race.

[Marcus Parks]

If you believe it. Yeah, if you even believe it.

[Ed Larson]

Can you believe it? It's the Aryans again.

[Marcus Parks]

I just want. Let me know when ready for me to jump on in here.

[Ed Larson]

See, by 1917, the Tula Society had become obsessed with two things. First and foremost, they were convinced they were going to find the origins of the Aryan race somewhere in Europe. But they were also going to ensure that the existing Aryan race remained pure.

[Marcus Parks]

What these guys started to understand is that we need lore, we need world building.

[Ed Larson]

Yes.

[Marcus Parks]

Right. We need stuff that we could hang our hat on. There is no Germanic capital G. Spirit. We don't know what we could. We all want it. We're all desperate. Some kind of national spirit, something that can fill us with something outside of ourselves that we can then use as a cudgel against everybody else. So the Tula Society created a version of the birth of white people, that there was a frozen island named Tula where that's where we crawl out of that. White people crawl out of the ice. And this magical place where we had technology in the ice and then we spread and we are the beginning of all society, even are the white walkers. We are literally. But now it's not. But we know that's not. We know it's not true. But they were gonna just make it.

[Ed Larson]

Up because again, with a Tula Society, to ensure that they at least kept their own house in order, any prospective member had to sign a special oath swearing that to the best of their knowledge, no Jewish or quote unquote colored blood flowed in either his or his wife's veins. And that there were no members of the so called colored races amongst their ancestors. But besides the racial stuff, the Tula Society also involved themselves in politics. Like most of these groups, the Tula Society lumped Jews and communists together. The Nazis also subscribed to this. So the Tula Society attempted to infiltrate the new German socialist government in 1919 to perform a coup. Instead, seven Tula Society members were captured and executed, including its founder and three German aristocrats. This I think tells you that Heiner Himmler was not only person in Germany who wanted things to return to the way they were before the war. And that's I think, extremely important. The, the aristocratic class in Germany plays a massive role in the rise of the Nazis and in actually like the aristocrats were the ones who opened the door because they thought that they could take advantage of Hitler. They thought they could control Hitler. They thought they could control the Nazis. Like, ah, he's just some. They called him a jumped up corporal. Like he's just some idiot. He's just some fucking. He's some peasant. We can control him. Guess what? You can't. Yeah, you cannot control these people, you know.

[Henry Zebrowski]

And aren't the Nazis more communists than socialists?

[Marcus Parks]

Well, what they did. This is actually. So this is an extremely complex thing.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Not ask that question.

[Ed Larson]

We shouldn't get into it too far.

[Marcus Parks]

But it's extremely complex. The question. The. The answer is those thought structures. The answer is those thought structures were extremely popular within Germany at the time. Actually, Germany was way more left wing during this time period. After the collapse of Germany and the. And then all of this after World War I, basically, Nazis realized, if we talk like communists, if we talk like socialists, people will. Essentially will hook people in. And that's what they did. They took the language of those things and just flipped it on its head so they can do stuff like, we're communist, we're socialist group. We're for the people. We're saying these things because one of the big things him. What Himmler's gonna say later on is that the SS looks scary, but he's gonna tell the SS act like you're. They're gonna be afraid of you, naturally, but you're helpers. You're helpers. And so that's this whole. Remember that. So every single time they're doing. They're just twisting language so that somebody like you can be like, aren't you all socialists? Because that's a part of the game. Now.

[Ed Larson]

The Tula Society's link to the Nazi Party has admittedly been overblown over the years by occult Nazi conspiracy theorists. And that way back in the day, when our grasp on history was, let's say, a little more tenuous than it is now, we're still doing our best. We're still learning, we're trying. That's what you got to do. You got to educate yourself and learn over the years. That's what we've been doing.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Now we're going to stop.

[Marcus Parks]

You never stop growing. You know, I've learned. They're just. We know more. So it's. There are two layers. There are just more and more layers. There's more and more understanding that certain things are just done for reasons that we don't want to understand. Like that the idea that this occult cult side of it. Himmler knows when will begin to express that there is a literal. There's a practical way to harness this. And that's what it is. It's keeping a foot outside.

[Ed Larson]

There's a power in using it.

[Marcus Parks]

Yes, yes.

[Ed Larson]

In reality, no prominent Nazi was ever a part of the Tula Society, save for Anton Drexler. Drexler was the founder of the party that became the Nazi Party, the German Workers Party, which add to your. To your point, sounds very communist. Yeah. And while Drexler was definitely a member of the Tula Society, Hitler never was, despite many claims to the contrary. Really, the Nazis just like the cut of the Tula Society's jib, and vice versa. But when Hitler began his true rise to Power. He purposefully distanced himself from the Tula Society. Like I don't, I don't know, I. That they're fine, they're fine, but that's not, are really our thing. This wasn't because he disagreed with anything the Tula society was saying, but because Hitler knew that the Tula Society was simply too weird for most regular Germans, too out there with their occult beliefs. In modern terms, the Tula Society is to the Nazis kind of like what qanon is to today's right wing. But definitely you're not going to win over most of middle America talking about Tom Hanks Ainley raping a child any more than a middle class German in 1919 was going to be swayed by arguments that white people deserve to be in char because we come from Atlantis.

[Marcus Parks]

What did Tom Hanks do?

[Henry Zebrowski]

Tom Hanks, you know, he's very persuasive.

[Marcus Parks]

You know, if I'm going somewhere I'm molested.

[Henry Zebrowski]

I want to get in your.

[Marcus Parks]

Box of chocolates, little boy.

[Ed Larson]

But that's one of the things that people don't realize about the Nazis is that Hitler was, he always liked to present himself as a reasonable man. Well, he, he like, he very much. He didn't like all the crazy, all the wacky. It was a slow role. He always wanted to present himself as reasonable. He loved a referendum. He always loved like, let's just, let's put it to the people and see what the people say.

[Marcus Parks]

But then you see the, the slicer, what's his name? Liker, the guy that would like end up putting Hitler in charge, blah, blah, blah.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, the one who ended up fucking getting killed during Night of the Long Knives because he thought, because he thought that he could fucking control Hitler because you can never fucking control, control these people.

[Marcus Parks]

But then he brought Hitler, right? So he was the first one to me. But everybody who met Hitler was like, straight up were like, this guy's insane, right? Like this is really insane. But they all were like, ah. Because he, he began to realize I just, I have to change tone.

[Ed Larson]

Yes, but just as it is with QAnon, there were some people in Germany who were swayed by the wackier. And Heinrich Himmler was most certainly one of those people.

[Marcus Parks]

Dude, this is the Xenon poll. Yeah, because the Xenon poll, like what that does with the Zenu pole. This is the Zenu poll. So what this does again is that you're in so far. I'm going to tell you something ridiculous now what that's actually going to do that's a loyalty test.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

And that's going to make you double down. Like, if you don't believe that white people can naturally harness the transformative power of the earth itself. Vril. And be able to create UFOs that can fly and be able to travel past the time in order to like fuck a mastodon or whatever. Like these guys, like, legitimate, like they believe that outwardly because that's a sign that you're a true believer and you're going to be in lockstep no matter what.

[Henry Zebrowski]

And some people are more willing to believe the crazier shit than rational shit.

[Marcus Parks]

Sometimes too, because the crazier shit can't be proved.

[Henry Zebrowski]

And it's a better story.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, it makes life more interesting.

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[Marcus Parks]

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[Ed Larson]

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[Ed Larson]

While Himmler wasn't a member of the Tula Society, he was a member of right wing groups run by Tula Society members. And Hamler gobbled up every bit of pseudoscience and pseudo history that these people spewed.

[Marcus Parks]

He started understanding. Understanding.

[Ed Larson]

See, During World War I, many Germans found themselves drawn to the myth of Atlantis. But what they heard was an Atlantis myth with a racist slant. This myth said that Aryans, I. E. White people, were actually Atlanteans and that the lesser races had caused their downfall. This belief was thanks in part to the occult thinkers of the time like Madame Helena Blavatsky, who didn't give a Second thought to the possible consequences of the. That she was making up on the fly.

[Marcus Parks]

I will say, upon a rereading of the Secret Doctrine, if you look at it, she legitimately. It's all filler.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

The race stuff in. In the Secret Doctrine is all filler.

[Ed Larson]

It makes zero sense. We tried. We tried covering on our series and it was the worst part of the whole thing.

[Marcus Parks]

But they understood that what you do is you take a thing that appears to be a mysterious truth that you can't understand and need an otherworldly intelligence to. To walk you through. What they'll do is, what they understand immediately is zoom into something specific that's already around that nobody can explain. We will attach an explanation to it. Yeah. Now it has an explanation. Now it can be actionable and they're.

[Ed Larson]

Going to simplify it.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah.

[Henry Zebrowski]

How do Jews sink a city?

[Marcus Parks]

That's the idea that the Atlanteans had created proto nukes and they had sunk themselves and that the actual lesson of Atlantis is supposed to be these very magical, magical white people destroyed themselves with their own hubris. That's the story. That's what the real story is supposed to be.

[Ed Larson]

But the Germans who love this combine the Atlantis myth with the pseudoscience of the day stuff like phrenology and eugenics, which. Eugenics comes from America and it's all coming back.

[Marcus Parks]

All that phrenology shit's all back. That's the new fun stuff that these guys are all doing. All the. These people I'm not allowed to name anymore, all of the various celebrities that.

[Ed Larson]

We'Re dealing with that are. The shape of our skull tells us what our criminality is supposed to be.

[Marcus Parks]

Dude, phrenology is. Is all racial. Science is bigger than it's ever been.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

Since this time period.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. Well, it became common occult knowledge amongst people in Germany that Atlantis was either Iceland or Greenland. And evidence of ancient Aryans they believed could be found somewhere on these islands. Now, Himmler was just as into all of this as all of the other white people nerds who were getting into it at the time. But Himmler was also obsessed with Germanic history and mythology.

[Marcus Parks]

There's a term for it, ariosophy, which is the turning of Theosophy into race into Aryan base.

[Ed Larson]

Huh, that's interesting. Additionally, archaeology was all the rage amongst the upper crust of Germany when Himmler was growing up. So having knowledge of ancient history only played further into Himmler's ideals of what was required to be a part of a proper society. See, but by the time Himmler was 10. He had memorized the details of all of Germany's most famous historic battles. And in high school, his knowledge of ancient German weaponry and warfare was said to equal or surpass that of his teachers, which I'm sure made him an incredibly aggravating student.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Oh, of course. That's who he was.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah. Dude.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. Actually, the thing is about that, that staff, I'm not sure you're putting it in the right period.

[Marcus Parks]

No one's asking you.

[Ed Larson]

As far as Himmler's specialties went, his historic historical hero was Frederick Barbarossa, the 12th century king of Germany who had launched the Second and Third Crusades. Barbarossa was also who Hitler named the invasion of Russia after. Operation Barbarossa.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah, you know, nothing to do with.

[Ed Larson]

The Willie Nelson movie.

[Marcus Parks]

Oh, I find it so fascinating that it's always the weakest guys that like the big strong guys. Yeah, those big, strong, strapping, big bald men.

[Ed Larson]

Very strong.

[Marcus Parks]

I love a big breasted men.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Yeah. Like a sports journalist.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah.

[Ed Larson]

Most specifically, Himmler was drawn to Barbarossa's restoration of the Justinian codes, which were laws enforced by moral justifications. In King Frederick's case, he ruled by the divine right of kings. And that meant that everything he did was moral and just solely because he was king. Himmler took these ideas and internalized them and began to believe. Believed that laws should enforce morality. Influenced by King Frederick further, Himmler also believed that morality was universal, not subjective. But Himmler also believed that he was one of the few people who knew what those universal morals were. And those morals certainly weren't good news for anyone who wasn't white, straight and chaste. Now, Heinrich Himmler was a sponge for ideas and in the mirror.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah, got him.

[Ed Larson]

So he was just as influenced by contemporary thought coming out of Germany as he was by the concepts dreamed up by his medieval forebears. Himmler particularly latched on to an ethno nationalist German movement called the Volkisch movement, which first gained steam in the late 19th century and also heavily influenced Hitler. If it tells you anything, the official Nazi newspaper was called the Volkisch Observer. See, During World War I, Imperial Germany believed that it was owed expansion beyond its borders so the German people could spread across central and Eastern Europe and returned to what made Germany great in the first place.

[Marcus Parks]

I understand they weren't Germany yet. They were just there already. They need more. They always were there.

[Ed Larson]

They wanted more. No, they wanted Eastern Europe.

[Marcus Parks]

But they never have it before. Why do they want to now? You were fine sitting there because they.

[Ed Larson]

Had there Are more Germans now? And so they needed more land in order to be more German.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah, World War I must have been real fun.

[Henry Zebrowski]

You say more land or more bland?

[Marcus Parks]

There's nothing bland about Germany. We went. It's good. It's. With many tapestries of different flavors.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Yeah, they have all kinds of different mustards, dude.

[Marcus Parks]

They do. Wait till you go.

[Ed Larson]

I love. I. I'll say this. I love Germany and I love German culture. I love German music and art. Like, it's. It really does suck that the Nazis gave the Germans such a bad name because they really have made some incredible things throughout the years.

[Marcus Parks]

Hey. But ever since they've been doing good. Yeah, they just had a bit little period of time.

[Ed Larson]

Yep. Well, by the 20s, Germans had become obsessed with rolling back the clock to the country's ancient agricultural roots, because writers in the Vulkish movement began espousing the idea that old German farming traditions had refined and biologically honed the Nordic race. But those traditions had been lost.

[Marcus Parks]

I mean, they definitely did create a series of ladies with some of the best, most succulent alabaster mommy milkers that you've ever seen in your life. But I. I don't know if that's going to do much for the war. Eff. Big titted beer wenches are probably some of the best things that God in his German face ever created. But I don't know. I mean, but that's really. That's where I tap out.

[Ed Larson]

Not sure if it's like superiorities.

[Marcus Parks]

Sausage makers are delicious. I want to meet them.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah.

[Ed Larson]

Well, the re. Well, the reasoning went that in ancient German tradition, German farmers had picked the strongest of their children to inherit their land, so that only the fittest would farm the fields and therefore continue propagating a superior bloodline.

[Marcus Parks]

So somebody like Himmler would have been definitely chosen. His big strapping father certainly not drowned in the river when he was five years old.

[Ed Larson]

But owing to what the Volkisch writer saw as the negative influence of the French Revolution, German landowners were now dividing their land equitably amongst all their heirs, thereby imperiling the Nordic race and undoing generations of selective breeding. So through the Volkis movement, the ideas of being pure, through breeding and the importance of agriculture, these two ideas became inextricably linked in the minds of certain segments of the German population. And we're not telling you. And we're not. Yeah, but. But that's. And we're not talking. It's like we're not talking 1933 here. We're talking like 1899. We're talking like this is. These are ideas that have been fermenting in Germany for decades. By the time the Nazis come along. But. And by the time Heinrich Himmler starts really getting into it.

[Marcus Parks]

And so to see here is like, Himmler's putting these things together to create a story, story you can follow. Like, that's going to be one of the things. He understands that a fascist government and just kind of like what a revolution needs, like what he views as a revolution needs. A revolution needs us plot. It needs. It needs benchmarks. It needs all of these things.

[Henry Zebrowski]

360 degrees.

[Marcus Parks]

Yes. It needs, like, it needs a story. It needs a story. And Himmler understood that immediately and he said, started seeing, oh, this is the story we're going to tell.

[Ed Larson]

By the time of the Nazis, this idea had been taken even further. They called it Lebensraum, or living space.

[Marcus Parks]

I remember that from high school. Yeah, Social studies.

[Ed Larson]

Oh, yeah. But the Nazis had added the provision that anyone who was in the German so called living space, unfortunately they had to be removed, enslaved or exterminated, depending on their racial characteristics.

[Marcus Parks]

You're kind of living in my space. You shouldn't be living in the space. And I would move you, but that's hard. So we're just going to have to kill you.

[Ed Larson]

Yep. This sick fantasy would be central to Hinrich Himmler's future plans. And it would drive every major decision throughout his life to the detriment of millions.

[Marcus Parks]

You don't want to be online after Himler when you're at the old country buffet because all motherfucker wants his room, man.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Imagine if Himmler was on Twitter.

[Marcus Parks]

He might have been. Actually, he might have been saved. There's one of those things where maybe he would have gotten out of his system system by just being. Because there's definitely. I'm having such a hard time not comparing him to so many different people that we know in the space right now because he's very, very similar to a lot of them. They wish. Exactly.

[Ed Larson]

I, I mean, that's the thing is that, I mean, we're starting to see, you know, they say, like, oh, you know, Twitter, like, helps it, helps it get the poison out. But now we're starting to see that no, these things, online fighting online, it doesn't help get the poison out. It only increases the poison until it flows over and spell spills over and splashes the rest of us.

[Marcus Parks]

I actually, I have a kind of a theory that I'm building now that I think that it does sort of help for a while. I think that it does allow pressure to increase from people saying hateful things. I think the problem is, is that eventually you do begin to realize it's not moving the needle and that sometimes that either, hopefully that makes you stop being a troll. That normally either it's like one or two, it's either you upgrade to something worse or you finally stop. Yeah.

[Henry Zebrowski]

It's also good that we see it in real time because all this Himmler shit we learned from like his diaries and stuff.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah.

[Henry Zebrowski]

After he died, we got a handle on, you know, now we get to like see people posted their thoughts in real time, which is kind of cool.

[Marcus Parks]

What's amazing about Himmler in this aspect is the fact that he wrote down every single one of his thoughts.

[Ed Larson]

He did.

[Marcus Parks]

So we know exactly what he was thinking.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. That's why we know Himmler. Like, that's why we can say so much about Himmler. As opposed to like, why Hitler such. Still such a. Even though Hitler wrote an entire book about his beliefs.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah. He was a fake version of himself. You know what I mean?

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. With Himmler, we know exactly who, who this man was. Now, when Heinrich Himmler read about the Volkish movement, it sounded to him like the ideal life, despite the fact that he was the upper middle class son of a professor from one of Germany's most cosmopolitan cities.

[Marcus Parks]

A horse farted. And now I'm sick. I hate this court. The corn is hard. Oh. Oh. It's shocking. And even the. The paper around the corn is sharp. It's the. Huh.

[Ed Larson]

But like any nerd, Himmler was just trying to live out a fantasy he'd read in a book. Because Himmler had been greatly inspired by an author with the extremely German name of Hans Gunther.

[Marcus Parks]

Yes, my mother was a tuba.

[Ed Larson]

Hans Gunther's book was a hugely popular tome called the Night Death and the Devil, in which he argued in the most racist way possible that the German people were destined to live in an agrarian culture in which every German is a warrior farmer who could both live off the land and defend it if need be.

[Marcus Parks]

It's the same guys that were at Charlottesville. You know what I mean? It's the same fat bodied piece of weak shouldered, weak chested, little that are going to go and like, act like they're going to till a field. A lot of them can't till a Walmart.

[Henry Zebrowski]

I will say the Night Death and the Devil is a great title.

[Ed Larson]

It's a good, it's, it's a pretty good day yeah, the Night Death and the Devil. Yeah, it's. It's pretty good.

[Henry Zebrowski]

You know, if that was a movie on, like, a shelf at Blockbuster, I'd be like that. One, please.

[Marcus Parks]

Give me that.

[Ed Larson]

And 3. 10 to Yuma. Inspired by Hans Gunther's ideas, Himmler made the very surprising decision to study farming at the technical university in Munich when he was 19. But the catch was that he had to have one year of practical experience under his belt before he could join the program. Now, even though Himmler acquired an apprenticeship on a farm, in short order, his body was not prepared. Prepared for 12 hours of manual labor six days a week. To his credit, he did try to push through the pain, but he still ended up sick in bed with paratyphoid fever after just five days on the farm. He couldn't even get through a work week.

[Marcus Parks]

A chicken coughed on me. Father, will the white race prevail? I have beet disease. Oh.

[Ed Larson]

Oh, beet disease.

[Marcus Parks]

The vegetable.

[Ed Larson]

The veget. It's the vegetable, son. Yes. You have not conquered disease. Oh, you have disease of the beast.

[Marcus Parks]

Yes, I have radish. Aids. Help. Help. Father. Send help. Send money. Send money.

[Ed Larson]

The fever landed Himmler in the hospital for three weeks, but Himmler's hospital stay basically became the 1920s equivalent of falling down a RAC YouTube algorithmic rabbit hole. While bedridden, Himmler alternated between Jules Verne and political works that only reinforced his conservative nationalist viewpoints. That's kind of like sitting there and going back and forth between Minecraft videos and Nick Fuentes.

[Marcus Parks]

Yes, excellent. I knew that. Beets with a Jew's apple. I knew that for certain. Go sour.

[Ed Larson]

Beets, particularly Himmler, devoured books that had the seemingly incongruent views that the Jews had both started World War, had stabbed Germany in the back by forcing them to surrender on the cusp of victory.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Really? Because I figured the people who forced them surrender were the other armies that defeated them.

[Ed Larson]

That is more what happened.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah.

[Ed Larson]

And it was the generals that were like, oh, we can't win this.

[Marcus Parks]

Oh, we not know we're losing this.

[Ed Larson]

Well, that was that. Well, but that really was kind of where the idea came from, is that the German generals at the time, unlike Hitler later on, who took Germany to the bitter end until Berlin was absolutely destroyed. The German generals in World War I looked at the men they had, they looked at everyone else and they thought, we can't win this. And if we keep going with this, then they're just. These people are going to march into Germany and they're Going, they're going to destroy our entire country. And we don't want that to happen. But there were guys on the German front lines who were like, everything's going great. Like, we're still, we're winning battles, we're doing shit. Like, everything's going good. But because, you know, the German generals made the responsible decision to not sacrifice, you know, millions or more of their citizens. Many Germans did not believe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what they thought. They were like. They wanted to fight to the last man. To the last. You know, until it was. Until there was no hope.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Man, fucking Himmler would have died so fucking fast.

[Marcus Parks]

I know, it would have been awesome.

[Henry Zebrowski]

He can't even garden, much less live in a trench, you know?

[Marcus Parks]

Yes.

[Ed Larson]

He couldn't. Five days.

[Marcus Parks]

I have to confess to you, I don't even really like water. Don't like to be wet. It's like covered with slow.

[Ed Larson]

Now, once Himmler was out of the hospital, he decided that maybe the hands on apprenticeship wasn't the right move.

[Marcus Parks]

Yes.

[Ed Larson]

So he quit the program and enrolled at the University of Munich with a major in agriculture.

[Marcus Parks]

So I could write papers about farming. Yeah.

[Ed Larson]

So he could be more theoretical with it.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah. You know how that is. Ah, seeds. What is a seed?

[Ed Larson]

I mean, you can get a major in it, you can get a degree in agriculture in college and go on to be a farmer. My grandfather did that.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah. You could be a researcher. You can do lots of stuff. Yeah, no, I'm not putting it, I'm putting him down.

[Ed Larson]

Oh, please, please. Yes. He also joined a group that was far more suited to his background. A racist fencing fraternity that. Now that is Heinrich Himler's land.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Well, he does look like a pin cushion.

[Ed Larson]

He wrote in his diary that he only gained the confidence in college to engage in intellectual debates with other men after he had received his first fencing scar. After I was caught with the sword for the first time, then I felt I could truly debate with the men.

[Marcus Parks]

I just want to mash his face into my fucking ass.

[Ed Larson]

As do I.

[Henry Zebrowski]

It's truly stabbable.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. Now, at the University of Munich, Himmler linked up with other young extreme right wing shitheads who also wanted to waste their youth on hating people different from them.

[Marcus Parks]

Them.

[Ed Larson]

While talking endlessly about the best ways to subjugate said people. See, anti Semitism was on a sharp rise in Germany after World War I due to the whole stab in the back thing. So Himmler and his compatriots would quote, unquote, debate as to whether or not Jews deserved equal rights or if they should even be allowed to participate in Himmler's precious fencing duels. Himmler also immersed himself in an anti Semitic book called the sin against the blood by a German dickhead named Artur Denter, where Jews are depicted as racist defilers and the embodiment of everything wrong with society. That's all to say that the Nazis did not in any way, shape or form create the anti Semitism that eventually bore the Holocaust. Although writers like Artur Denter did become members of the Nazi party eventually. Instead, the Nazis merely picked up the ideas that were already floating around Germany and took them to the most extreme conclusions.

[Henry Zebrowski]

He was just mad that his last name was Denter.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah, I don't like being d no more. Everybody likes a dinor.

[Ed Larson]

An arter. Arter.

[Marcus Parks]

Name. And people don't like just looking at.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Sounds like he was named by gro.

[Ed Larson]

As you might expect, Heinrich Himmler. With his extreme anxiety, weak chin, and hateful personality, he was not the most charismatic man in Germany. And he was almost completely bereft of social graces. Himmler always had problems forming personal relationships because he was shy, uncertain, and constantly struggling, Struggling to understand what people expected of him.

[Marcus Parks]

Well, he's also myopic. Racist. Yeah, yeah.

[Ed Larson]

As one author put it, Himmler simply didn't know how to strike the right note in his behavior with other people. Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

Because he was a virulent Nazi.

[Ed Larson]

That same tends to make you unlikable to the majority of people. Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

And it just always like that. Always like, fine, like the idea too. I'll never understand that, like, these guys do have, like, friends and they do have these things where you have to act all normal around them or whatever. Can you imagine? Could you imagine it? I like, yeah, I get it. You're gonna put me in a concentration camp. But honestly, you might have to. If you think I'm gonna give him or a high five. I don't want to touch him.

[Henry Zebrowski]

I really.

[Marcus Parks]

It's like. It's like he.

[Henry Zebrowski]

It was like, just. I keep going back to Anders Breivik.

[Ed Larson]

He just.

[Henry Zebrowski]

He looks like him. He acts like him.

[Marcus Parks]

Very similar.

[Ed Larson]

Well, that same author basically diagnosed Himmler with what modern psychologists would call an attachment disorder. That meant that Himmler placed very high expectations on other people, but was unable to define what those. So as a result, his expectations could never be fulfilled. It was impossible. But Himmler would still become highly frustrated when people disappointed him. And he had a constant desire for affection with no way of knowing how to obtain it. Because of these Constant failed connections. A disordered person like Himmler will shut down even further emotionally while trying to find outlets to compensate for their lack of relationships.

[Henry Zebrowski]

He could have used like a body pillow.

[Marcus Parks]

Oh, wow. Oh, what a fleshlight attached to a machine could have done for this man. This man. Honestly, you look at Himler and you. My first thought, my head. This man needs some hentai.

[Ed Larson]

In Himmler's case, his attachment disorder manifested in strict observance of social formalities and rules for everyday life. Himmler believed that if he abided by every rule there was, no matter how pedantic, he could defend his lack of emotional maturity by staying active. Actually, everyone else sucks because they don't follow the rules.

[Marcus Parks]

And if this doesn't ring true to what we are dealing with on the Internet, then I don't know what does. This is such like an incel thought process. Like, this is such like this idea.

[Ed Larson]

You're wrong. I hate you.

[Marcus Parks]

I hate you. And that what I have to do then is that because all of you aren't behaving the way that you all need to be behaving, there should be rules in which you all have to give me things and treat me nicely because you won't do it. Because I'm a putrid boil and it's just like, yeah, I'm sorry. Sorry. Putrid boil. Maybe think about the putrid part of the boil. Like, I get it. You're just a boil.

[Ed Larson]

Plenty of boils out there who have a good time.

[Marcus Parks]

You know what you do. Nice shirt. Yeah. Good haircut. You know what women like. You know what people like in general? Better shoes. You'd be less Then you'd just be a boil with great shoes.

[Ed Larson]

Now, while Heinrich Himmler certainly had compatriots who shared his beliefs, he never had what you'd call friends. Well, he did have one friend when he was a teenager. Teenager. A kid named Falk Zipperer.

[Marcus Parks]

Oh, man, oh, man.

[Ed Larson]

They would write.

[Marcus Parks]

Was he played by Martin Starr in the movie?

[Ed Larson]

Like, apparently they would write poetry together. Himmler's poetry.

[Marcus Parks]

Awful.

[Ed Larson]

Absolutely terrible. Falk Zipperer, though, did get some poems published. He was okay, but eventually he just got tired of him. Like, I don't want to hang out with this fucking guy anymore.

[Marcus Parks]

Imc Zipper. Now.

[Ed Larson]

On Himmler's view, human relationships required him to commit too deeply. Although his diary entries from college portray a nerd who is extremely anxious to be accepted by other students. This, however, was a difficult proposition because he was, after all, Heinrich fucking Himmler, and he wasn't any more of a likable guy when he was in college than when he was second in command of the Third Reich.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Likable?

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

Thank you.

[Ed Larson]

Himmler was described as shy but incredibly arrogant, notoriously anti Semitic, violently opposed to communism, inflexible, straying from his routine, and terrible at reciting Bavarian folk poetry, which he tried to do often. When Himmler ran for student office, he got the smallest number of votes because while most people didn't hate Heinrich Himmler, nobody liked him either.

[Marcus Parks]

Why?

[Ed Larson]

As such, Himmler did not do well in the romance department either. Himmler, however, justified his lack of success in forming intimate relationships with women by announcing publicly that he would remain a virgin until marriage.

[Marcus Parks]

You don't even try, try to break me. Try to see if I'll give you some of this big penis. I am choosing not to have sex with any one of you.

[Ed Larson]

Say I hate the way he would.

[Marcus Parks]

Say, I hate the way I feel when they're body to body with me. I hate the way I lose control.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Even though he looks like sperm and an egg.

[Marcus Parks]

Well, here we go. Here's a quote. Here's a quote from Himmler's college diary. And if you put this quote next to somebody else's face, you might be confused as to who said it. A woman is loved by a real man in three ways. As a beloved child that one must argue with or even punish. As a wife who shares your struggle without shackling you. As a goddess whose feet one must kiss.

[Ed Larson]

Yes.

[Marcus Parks]

And so, yeah, there's a guy probably put it right next to his face and you probably know exactly who I'm referring to.

[Ed Larson]

It's exactly what I mean when I say that, you know, these not. It's so easy to compare these, like extreme conservatives and extreme right wing thinkers to the Nazis because they're all coming from the exact same place.

[Marcus Parks]

But hurt virgins that can't make friends can't do anything, they suck at everything. And so they want to destroy the world to bring it down to their shitty little level.

[Ed Larson]

I mean, that's partly that. It's partly that. But I think that only is a small. That's only a fraction of these people.

[Marcus Parks]

Oh, get me. I know. Oh, I know. I'm just saying at it for frustration.

[Ed Larson]

Now, during college, the only time Himmler came close to a relationship was an obsession with a young woman named Maja, whom Hitler claimed to have gained considerable influence over through the use of hypnosis. Despite his hypnotic charms, however, Himmler and Maja remained, as he wrote in his diary, just friends.

[Marcus Parks]

I Was just trying to challenge my own virginity and my virginity won.

[Henry Zebrowski]

I like you because you sound like Maza.

[Ed Larson]

Maza.

[Marcus Parks]

Now.

[Ed Larson]

After Heinrich graduated with a agriculture diploma in 1922, owing to his teenage obsession with somehow becoming a Germanic warrior farmer, Himmler took a low paying office job in Munich until he could afford to buy his own farm. In his spare time he participated in hollow military exercises with the German reserve army.

[Marcus Parks]

You could just see him with his like body armor that he bought off of Amazon. Like you could see all these. He's like guys playing ice. It's like all the same. Yeah.

[Ed Larson]

Because of Himler's piddling services, he would denounce any of his peers who had not participated in the military. While considering his own experiences in the military in which he whined to his mother about not writing him often enough, he considered those to be heroic. He said he's had a very. Himmler had an what you'd call an extraordinarily good self image.

[Marcus Parks]

Yes.

[Ed Larson]

Himmler also continued to fail in the realm of romance and once remarked to appear that he actually I despised women. Yes, he despised them. Specifically, Heinrich would write obsessively in his diary about a pretty waitress who was living a life of moral depravity which Himmler believed he could alleviate simply by giving her money. Again and again Himmler adopted the Madonna whore viewpoint when it came to women. He considered flirting, kissing and sex above all to be wicked. And he thought that people who indulged in sexual acts for any reason other than procreation were simply giving in to their animalistic side, which was not very German at all.

[Marcus Parks]

I actually asked my therapist for what this would be called and he couldn't give me something. The idea of like a gateway idea. This is like one of those gateway ideas. This is like one of those things that like if you can learn to hate one person, I can teach you how to hate 10. Like it seems like it's one of those where. Cuz it's interesting, right? This hatred for women really just comes from his own like incel, like nature.

[Ed Larson]

Well it's just his own frustrations and you know, his inability to connect with anyone.

[Marcus Parks]

But then he uses that as another way. So later on when he will like subjugate women, all that kind of stuff, he will use this as another. It's a, it's a way to get a 15 year old boy in the door. Yeah sure this is a thought that puts a 15 year old boy at the foot of all the other thoughts.

[Ed Larson]

But it's also it's very much about his attachment disorder and his expectations and women never meeting those expectations.

[Marcus Parks]

But because he has no sense of real self and no sense of like he can't understand, that's a him problem. He wants to change the literal government. He wants to change the world's government to. In order to reflect those ideas exactly what we're saying. Again, it's the problem. It's not just like oh my God, I should dress better. Oh my God, I should learn to play the piano. It's the world needs to change. Women are horse.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Yes, he can monologue. He can't listen.

[Ed Larson]

Yes, well, for Himler's part, his ideal woman was untouchable and totally desexualized. With an attitude towards Cotus that was just as chaste and strict as his own. In his dreams, Himmler fantasized about a woman who would gladly join his quest to Germanize the lands of Eastern Europe. As a settler, she would be a nurse, a mother and a sister figure, all while avoiding any erotic or threatening femininity that served any purpose other than to propagate the German race. In turn, women mocked Heiner Kemmler and openly called him a eunuch.

[Marcus Parks]

Oh, very much so. Because this idea, because guess what it sounds like. Guess. I mean it sounds. The idea that women are just supposed to be baby factories. That's all supposed to be, they're supposed to just father the armies of the Nazis.

[Ed Larson]

Well, baby factories and you know, they, they must keep the house in order.

[Marcus Parks]

They must make dinner, make sure he's okay.

[Ed Larson]

Milk. Yeah, milk the cows. It's definitely, it's all subservience now. Around 1922, Himmler's diary entries displayed a massive uptick in anti Semitism. And he also began to write quite a bit about how much he hated homosexuals whom he considered considered degenerate. Himmler also started referring to himself with his weak chin and pigeon chest as a so called true Aryan.

[Marcus Parks]

I think he was right.

[Ed Larson]

Now one of the.

[Marcus Parks]

I think he is the Terrarian now.

[Ed Larson]

One of the reasons why Himmler's anti Semitism increased in 1922 is because that was the year that hyperinflation hit Germany. Because of the extraordinarily short sighted conditions of the Versailles Treaty which placed most of the blame and responsibility for World War I on Germany. The country owed massive reparations. In order to pay these reparations to other countries, the ruling government figured, fuck it, why don't we just print more money, that'll solve everything. Why hasn't anyone ever thought of this before it's money.

[Marcus Parks]

Just make more of it.

[Ed Larson]

This is of course a stupid idea. And pretty soon the price of goods in Germany increased by literally 10 million percent in 1923. $1 was equal to 4.2 trillion Reich marks.

[Marcus Parks]

I'll always remember those pictures. And we went to go see after the fact when they had split up the country. This is afterwards. Like the idea of big wheelbarrows. Yeah. Filled with money.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

They were burning to keep the houses warm.

[Ed Larson]

Yes. And the Himler family lost much of their wealth due to hyperinflation. And the right wing extremists that Heinrich already followed began saying that a cabal of Jewish bankers were somehow profiting off all the misery hyperinflation caused. It's at this point that the answer to any problem in Himmler's life as I said was oh of course it's the Jews.

[Marcus Parks]

As if Protestants and Catholics won't steal your money. Crazy to think that a Catholics wouldn't try to get a chunk of that. You guys are crazy. Oh yeah.

[Henry Zebrowski]

You mean the organization that demands 10% of its followers?

[Marcus Parks]

Seriously. And it's just like at the rest of it.

[Ed Larson]

Or let's go over to all the televangelists who are constantly asking people for money and telling them that if you don't give them money you're going to go to hell. And the only way to get to heaven is to give them money.

[Marcus Parks]

Industrialists make money on. On a world collapse. So these guys are all doing it. It's not just the Jewish people. It's a lot of guys look like you.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Himler.

[Ed Larson]

But as a result, Heinrich Himmler began associating with even more far right extremists who were railing against what they believed was the grand communist Jewish people plot behind the whole thing. The source of it all was the ruling government known to history as the Weimar Republic. Founded as Germany's first attempt at democracy, the Weimar Republic was what replaced the throne when Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated after his defeat at the end of World War I.

[Marcus Parks]

You know, it's all that because that's when things got sexy.

[Ed Larson]

Oh very sexy. The Weimar Republic was extraordinarily sexy.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah. That's why it made him so angry. Because none of those sexy girls wanted to talk to him. Because he was at miserable hate filled troll.

[Ed Larson]

Basically. An uprising of workers and veterans bloodlessly took over Germany and established a parliamentary system much like England's. Then combined it with an American style presidency. Now the moderates of the Weimar Republic beat out the communists who are also trying to grab power after the Second Reich fell. But while on paper the Weimar Republic was one of the most liberal governments of its time, gave women the right to vote, it declared all Germans equal, It gave every German the right to free expression.

[Marcus Parks]

Mistake. Mistake. All this did make these guys angry.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, it was effectively a centrist government that pleased no one. As a result, the Weimar Republic in the early years had to deal with not only massive inflation, but a fair amount of attempted coups by paramilitary groups on the right and the left, in addition to its continued diplomatic isolation. Because the whole world was still really pissed off about World War I.

[Marcus Parks]

It was a bad one.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, it was a really bad one. The world was still very pissed off about it and a lot of the still blamed Germany. Now, Himmler took the hyperinflation of the early twenties personally once again because with his agriculture degree, the best job he could get in the economic climate was a low paying job working for a fertilizer company.

[Marcus Parks]

I don't want to work at the poo poo store. I purchased from the poo poo store.

[Ed Larson]

Additionally, Himmler had no friends and no romantic prospects.

[Marcus Parks]

I don't want them the gross.

[Ed Larson]

In other words, Heiner Kimberly Himmler was pissed off at anything and everything. But in 1922, Himmler heard tell of another group of miscreants where his anger and conspiracy theories would enable him to finally fit in somewhere. This group was just one of the numerous extreme right wing, anti semitic paramilitary groups in Germany at this time. But this group had a massive advantage. In effect, this group had just drafted the LeBron James of hateful, charismatic leaders. The one man who was going to grab everyone's attention and push this group to the top. The group was of course, the Nazi party. And their stock in Germany was rising quickly due to their star speaker, Adolf Hitler.

[Marcus Parks]

Y', all, I am bringing my talents down the south beach. I like Heinrich Himmler because he looks like my one testicle. That's like. But it's true. It's like he was kind of banding about and he was like the guy.

[Ed Larson]

Hitler was the guy.

[Marcus Parks]

He was the Chevy Chase.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Also I hate that we say party all the time.

[Ed Larson]

I know it's a political party, party parties.

[Marcus Parks]

But I hate that one. What now?

[Ed Larson]

Hitler's ideas had mostly been taken from the German return to nature volkisch movement that we mentioned earlier. It's the same one that got Himmler so excited, where every German was supposed to start a farm, have as many babies as possible, and defend their country when necessary. Hitler also Believed, like Himmler, that Jews and communism were inextricably linked and had to be exterminated. While the Slavs of Eastern Europe were destined to be a race of sterilized slaves who would get the warrior farmers on their feet before dying out completely.

[Marcus Parks]

Please leave us alone. Low. I really do, man. Everything American. I feel super foreign in this.

[Ed Larson]

Yes, yes.

[Marcus Parks]

It's nice.

[Ed Larson]

Yes. I feel very American and British at the same time.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah, dude.

[Ed Larson]

Both men believed that the most dangerous ideas in human history were pacifism, socialism and democracy.

[Marcus Parks]

This like the opposite though.

[Ed Larson]

Yep. And they scoffed at any pretensions towards humanism. In other words, they were both massive in every way possible. And Himmler was immediately attracted to the. The ideas being espoused by the Nazi party.

[Marcus Parks]

He's like, finally, not the main dickhead.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

You know, you can go there like, oh my God, they're bigger than me and they do worse stuff than me.

[Ed Larson]

No one, dude. No one's a bigger dickhead than Heinrich Himler.

[Marcus Parks]

I know he's going to be like, oh, wait till they. Once I'm in there.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, yeah. Now. By the time Himmler came along in 1922, the Nazi Party was well on its way. Hitler had joined in 1919 when it was still called, called the German Workers Party. He was member number 555, although the party had started its membership numbers at 500 to make them seem like they were much more popular than they really were.

[Marcus Parks]

What? You said they were liars, they were liars.

[Ed Larson]

He was actually member number 55 within two years. The Nazi membership, however, went from 55 to 2000, mostly because of Hitler. He was elected their leader in 1921 and the swastika borrowed from the Thule Society was adopted as the the party's official symbol. By the end of the year, Hitler was speaking for crowds of up to 6,000 people. And by the time Himmler started coming around, the Nazis membership had exploded to more than 20,000 people who had mostly been lured in by Hitler's speeches.

[Marcus Parks]

People like action. This is one of those things that I think that we're kind of even seeing now. Like people like fast action and are easily fooled by fast action. I think that somebody like a Hitler, what he does is offer fast action. It's a simple solution, it's easy answers, fast action. And people are amazed because they're used to bureaucratic red tape and nobody likes and they always joke and hate about the idea of government red tape, even though the reason why the red tape is there is to sort of like, do the thing the governments are supposed.

[Ed Larson]

To do called checks and balances, and.

[Marcus Parks]

Calling the people people and see how it works and creating coalitions. Doing all this dumb stuff that takes a long time, makes everybody angry and upset. Hitler's like, what if I just take all that out?

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. What if I just did like that? Actually, that is kind of Hitler in a nutshell. What if I just did it and it didn't matter what didn't matter what the consequences were to the people you don't like.

[Marcus Parks]

Because now we're doing it, and I'm just doing it.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. See, Hitler had actually joined the Nazis as a spy for the German army, who were investigating various extremist organizations due to all the paramilitary coups that the Weimar Republic was constantly batting away. As a result, Hitler had infiltrated several political movements prior to discovering the German Workers Party. And he learned something from all of them. He's sort of like, you know, we talk about Jim Jones. He went to every single church in his town and paid attention to every single one. Hitler did the exact same shit from the Social Democratic Party. Hitler said he learned to how. How to manipulate crowds and how to destroy opposition through constant attack.

[Marcus Parks]

He wrote, quote, I understood the infamous spiritual terror which this movement exerts at a given sign. It unleashes a veritable barrage of lies and slanders against whatever adversary seems most dangerous and to the nerves of the attacked persons, break down. This is a tactic based on the precise calculation of all human weaknesses, and his result will lead to success with almost mathematical certainty.

[Ed Larson]

And he is 100% correct. 100% correct. This tactic is still used today by who? Hitler also understood that the way to win over the public was to keep things simple. If you have just a few straightforward ideas that you cease, hammer into people's brains and pair them with recognizable symbols, pageantry, and colors that arouse them. It will make people feel like everything's gonna be all right.

[Marcus Parks]

Lock her up.

[Ed Larson]

Yep, lock her up. Use songs that people know that make people feel comfortable. This has been used to great effect in recent American history. Simple, straightforward ideas that you say again and again and again and the whole thing. And that's the thing about it.

[Marcus Parks]

Hitler farts lead to shit.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, well, that. Farts do lead to shit. Yeah, that's right. But that's the thing about Hitler is that you really got to understand about this, is that it's not about that. Hitler made, you know, that he, of course, did create hate within people, but the feeling that Hitler. The feeling that Hitler Created in the German people is the same feeling that people are responding to now. Everything's going to be okay. Everything's going to be fine.

[Marcus Parks]

Well, he's doing. Then they're telling us that everything is okay.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. And then everything's good. Yeah, Everything is okay, but everything's going to be fine. Everything's going to go back to the way it was, even though the way it was never actually existed in the first place. You were just young.

[Marcus Parks]

Why was he screaming it?

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, that is true. Why was he screaming it?

[Marcus Parks]

Just, you know, sing a song. Yeah, rap.

[Ed Larson]

My name's Ada P. And I'm here.

[Marcus Parks]

To say I'm G Nazi. Like, wait. The only way I knew how to do it. I know.

[Ed Larson]

Additionally, Hitler knew that acts of terror and violence, if successful, would attract people who wanted to feel a sense of power. This was extraordinarily attractive to a lot of young German men in 1922 who were coming off a humiliating defeat in World War I and had little future to speak of in Germany economically.

[Marcus Parks]

He used to take. He got to take the momentum of a bunch of guys that just got done killing a bunch of people in a field, and now they have no idea what to do with all that energy. He now gets to use those guys also.

[Ed Larson]

But he also was able to get guys like Himmler who never got to be in the war.

[Marcus Parks]

Exactly. They wanted a little taste.

[Ed Larson]

Well, because the guys who were actually in the war in Germany at this time, they actually looked at the trenches very nostalgically. Like, they looked at it as like, that was the time of glory. That was the time whenever, like, when in England and America, they're like, this is the worst fucking thing that ever fucking happened.

[Marcus Parks]

It was fucking awful because it was bad and we were right. And it's not glorifying to die in a trench. It actually sucks. Yeah. You wanna die, really? On a slip and slide. You wanna die, like, anywhere else but in a trench.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. But in Germany, they didn't think of it that way. They would talk about how glo. Glorious it was, how wonderful it was, how we should return to that.

[Marcus Parks]

It's a fantasy that wasn't real.

[Ed Larson]

Yes. And there were all these younger guys like Heiner Kemmler that were like, oh, God, like, I wish I could have done that. I wish I could have had that. So when it came time to go to war, there were a lot of people like, oh, this is my chance. I can have the same glory that those guys in the Great War had.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Also. Everyone's so poor, right?

[Ed Larson]

Now in Germany, extremely.

[Henry Zebrowski]

So when you get to that, you get extremely desperate and you start making irrational decisions. We see that with people in this country right now.

[Ed Larson]

Exactly. This tactic of playing on the hopelessness of disenfranchised young men has been used to great effect here in America in the last few years, but it's by people who are simply looking for clout or influence. We call it the manosphere. But the difference between then and now is that the young men of 1920s Germany have been raised with the same extreme brutality that Himmler had been raised with. So they had absolutely no problem meeting out violence whenever they were told that violence was the solution. This, thankfully, isn't the case in America anymore. Because while we may be conditioned to accept violence, we've been conditioned to accept gun violence, and we've been conditioned to accept it as a way to protect our freedoms. It's passive. We're also constantly told that gun violence is wrong and the people who perpetrate it are routinely vilified. So the difference here is that while young men are being recruited, they're being recruited to buy products and like and subscribe because they are not conditioned to commit violence on a Nazi Germany scale.

[Marcus Parks]

What we're seeing, though, is on the other side, which is a soft encouragement versus hard encouragement is what I would put it in this way. And we're in sarcastic terrorism instead of saying, like, hey, like the Nazis and the Stormtroopers were told to beat people.

[Ed Larson]

Up, go out there, beat their communists, go beat them up, kill them if you have to.

[Marcus Parks]

These guys are being told now that they're. What they're doing is on the news, everyone's saying it's bad. Don't do that. They go on the Internet and memes are telling them it's hilarious. And the memes are coming from inside the house.

[Ed Larson]

Yes.

[Marcus Parks]

The memes are literally coming from people within these organizations that are using those memes to, you know, what was it, 764. That other group? We have that group. We have Order the Nine Angles.

[Ed Larson]

This is my episode on Panic World about. For more about 764.

[Marcus Parks]

And so we have these things that are also then actively happening, but it's. It's just. They're going to the same guys in. In appealing them in ways that are specifically. But no, all of these groups are hunting for young men.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Memes are news for people who. You can't read full sentences.

[Marcus Parks]

Yes, yes.

[Ed Larson]

Now, Hitler did not rise to power alone, and many of the most famous shitheads of the Nazi party were recruited during these early days in the 1920s, as far as Heinrich Himmler went, he was brought in by an early ally of Hitler's who would of course, not survive the inevitable purges that come with these sorts of movements. The man who brought in Himmler was an actual World War I veteran who'd lost his fucking nose during the war. Got your nose.

[Marcus Parks]

Back.

[Ed Larson]

This noseless man was an absolute bruiser named Ernst Rome. Rome was an excellent organizer, a strong leader, and he utterly lacked any sort of. Of moral compass, which were all qualities that Heinrich Himmler appreciated.

[Marcus Parks]

It's actually kind of interesting he has no moral compass because actually our personal body compasses are actually in our nose. There's tiny deposits of iron in men's noses, more so than women. That's why technically they believe that men have more of an ability to naturally find direction is because we have more of that iron content in our nose. And so technically, he would have even less of a moral compass without the nose.

[Ed Larson]

Interesting.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Oh, that is interesting. And, you know, Himler probably liked him because with all of his belly issues, he could fart around him.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah. And he's just like, I could still taste it in my cavity.

[Ed Larson]

Rome also had an extreme capacity for violence. He believed that Germany was going to be won basically through street fighting. And he was kind of right. I mean, that was one of the big advantages of the Nazi party, was that they had roving bands of psychopaths that would just walk through the streets of Germany and beat the shit out of anybody who didn't fall in line. It was never a law that you had to Heil Hitler every time you saw somebody else, but if you didn't howl Hitler, then one of Holmes men would beat you half to death, if not beat you to death. It's not just. That wasn't just a fucking Downton Abbey storyline.

[Marcus Parks]

It happened well. Also they learned to separate the two. What they would do is they set the Stormtroopers became an unofficial side group to the main Nazi crew. Right. Because for a while Hitler was saying, I don't run the Stormtroopers.

[Ed Larson]

Yes, Very much so. Yes. He was the plausible deniability.

[Marcus Parks]

Yes.

[Ed Larson]

Rome's capacity for violence made him the perfect man to co found the Nazis for first paramilitary wing, the Sturm Abteilung, AKA the sa. But history knows them better as the Stormtroopers. Remember the Stormtroopers? They're not a part of the government.

[Marcus Parks]

No.

[Ed Larson]

Not in any way whatsoever.

[Marcus Parks]

Not soldiers.

[Ed Larson]

They're just fucking guys.

[Marcus Parks]

They're. They're kids. Yeah. Guys and kids.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, it's proud boys. Yes. Now under home's leadership again they wish. Now under Rome's leadership, the SA made several attempts to violently overthrow local governments throughout the Weimar Republic, the early years of the Nazi Party. They also carried out several assassinations across the political spectrum, including the murders of rival right wing extremists. Between 1919 and 1923, right wing high corps like the SA killed 354 people and politically motivated murders while only 22 murders were committed by left wing groups in the same time period. Step it up. But just like today. But just like today, because there were some murders committed by left wing provocateurs. The right win was extraordinarily good at convincing anyone who would listen that it was actually the leftists who represented the real danger. Even though their own people were committing murders at 16 times the rate. Isn't it?

[Marcus Parks]

Isn't it?

[Ed Larson]

Now? In the early days of the Nazi Party, Hitler was not the infallible Fuhrer that he would one day become men like Ernst Rome. I just. God, I love saying. Yeah, I know I sound like an. But I love saying his name properly.

[Marcus Parks]

You're allowed to.

[Ed Larson]

In particular would disagree with Hitler because Hitler believed that the military should be subservient to Nazi ideology, while Rome thought that the military should come first and everything else was secondary. Both men, however, hated Jews and communists.

[Marcus Parks]

Hey, so as long as they can get along. That's really what it is about. Fun, fighting, compromise.

[Ed Larson]

It did unify them for a surprisingly long period of time.

[Marcus Parks]

That's just nice to hear.

[Ed Larson]

But really, Hitler. Hitler put up with Rome because he desperately needed Rome's connections.

[Marcus Parks]

I also like how every time he puts on sunglasses they fall to his bottom lip. I always laugh.

[Ed Larson]

That for how we then we only have one jack o' lantern. We can't lose our jack o' lantern.

[Marcus Parks]

I can hear you. I hear you talking about me.

[Ed Larson]

It's also rumored.

[Marcus Parks]

I did good things. That bastard stole my nose.

[Ed Larson]

Rome was a war hero who had deep connections to the military and he wore his resume literally on his face. You could see what he had sacrificed. While Hitler's military experience made him little more than a so called jumped up corporal. As I said earlier, that's what all of the guys who ran Germany's military, that's what they looked at. That's what even like you know, they.

[Marcus Parks]

Didn'T take him seriously.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, even von Hindenburg, the German president, that's what he called him when he Hitler started gaining power.

[Marcus Parks]

Like who's this jumped up little corporal? Well when he first met him, he was like, get him away from me.

[Ed Larson]

Yes, That's. That was. Most people's reaction to Hitler was, get this man away from me. Until some of the aristocrats and some of the more right wing people decided, like, oh, no, we can use him. And again, rise. Use them.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah. Watch Rise of the Nazis on BBC. Honestly. Really does explain this really well. Yeah.

[Ed Larson]

BBC select. Rise of the Nazis. It's my favorite Nazi documentary series ever. It's incredible.

[Marcus Parks]

It's his favorite.

[Ed Larson]

Yes, it is my. That is my. That's my. The Nazi show that I mentioned earlier.

[Marcus Parks]

When he makes love to Carolina each night. The beginning of it is the Deutschland. No, not even close.

[Ed Larson]

Has nothing to do with a sex life.

[Marcus Parks]

Sex. Yeah.

[Henry Zebrowski]

They only listen to can.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. Also had connections to weapons and explosive manufacturers who were far more likely to make a deal with someone like Kim rather than, say, a failed artist whose biggest military accomplishment was getting gassed and blinded at the end of the war. That would be Hitler.

[Marcus Parks]

I couldn't see by. I changed the name as a group.

[Henry Zebrowski]

You know, Rome. He could take the gas.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah.

[Ed Larson]

But it was these connections and more that made Hitler ignore a very large part of. Oh, Ernst Rohm's life. See, Ernst Rohm lived as an openly gay man in the Weimar Republic. He attended gay nightclubs without shame. He held membership in an organization that supported gay rights men. Don't think this makes him cool. It doesn't. He still.

[Marcus Parks]

It's. It's like. No, it's just this. What? You're like, oh. He's been like, I know. This is the best part about my experiences in World War I. Yeah. I now got two horrors in my face. He has an. On his face. My head. Yeah. Someone come and come in my fucking brain. I'm gay as hell and I'm ready for head sex.

[Ed Larson]

Come in my brain. I don't know why. Come in my brain. God, I'm gonna be thinking about that for days.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah. Just being like, ow, ow. I keep hitting my penis on your nostril bones.

[Ed Larson]

See, while Weimar Germany was more open about homosexual sexuality than, say, America at the time, it was still a don't ask, don't tell situation, although the Weimar Republic was still famously swinging and comparatively progressive.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah, it was awesome.

[Ed Larson]

There were very few openly gay men, but gay clubs weren't explicitly banned, and major political parties actually worked to decriminalize homosexuality. The laws were never passed, of course, but the point is, they still tried. Ironically, though, the Nazi Party was the predominant party against gay rights, even though One of their top men was openly gay. Never one to let a contradiction stop him though. The Nazis would use Rome to recruit people who might be on the fence about the conservatism of the Nazis. The Nazis would point to Rome and say, hey dude, we're cool. We got a fucking. We got a gay dude. And he's a totally badass gay dude too. He don't got a nose or nothing.

[Marcus Parks]

No, dude, that guy better be hot as hell. Like, that's what I'm saying.

[Ed Larson]

No, he's not.

[Marcus Parks]

No. But that's what I'm saying. If you're gonna have a major gay Nazi, I want that guy to be hot.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

I don't want him to have. No, no. Sell me.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, yeah. No, he was a hefty man as well.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah, I want somebody. Yeah, dude, I want, I don't want an expert level gay. I want an entry level gay.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, but the thing is, is that, you know, the, you know, the right wingers are still doing this today. I mean, they did it with Milo Yiannopoulos, like, oh no, look, we've got a gay guy. Like, look, there are gay guys here. It's fine. It's great that. No, we're cool. Don't worry about it.

[Marcus Parks]

You always have they, you know, always notice how they push the three black people they have behind Trump.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

Like they push them behind his beach and stuff like that. Because I can be like, see, look.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah, it's always at sea, look.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah.

[Ed Larson]

Now Heinrich Himmler met Ernst Rohm in 1922, but Rome did not immediately bring Himmler into the Nazis. Like Hitler Home was a member of several right wing groups. So Himmler was brought into a right wing paramilitary group that allied itself with the Nazis called the Reichs Krigs or Reich War Flag.

[Henry Zebrowski]

I don't know why we're having problem to get members.

[Marcus Parks]

Look at the name.

[Ed Larson]

And from what it seems like, Himmler was not necessarily a Hitler stand like so many others in Germany. In fact, Hitler doesn't even make an appearance in Himmler's diary until February of 1924. This is interesting because Himmler had formally joined the Nazi party six months earlier. So he definitely knew Hitler personally long before that. But I think this points towards my assumption that for Heinrich Himmler, the ideas of the Nazi party were far more important than the leader who in Himler's mind was just a means to an end. He's the guy that can get this shit done.

[Marcus Parks]

They're all view him as somebody that can control, which is because in the end, you know, as we know they don't succeed, you know, like which will.

[Ed Larson]

Get their seed for a while.

[Marcus Parks]

But the idea is that they, you know, just interesting because even in his own mind he just thinks like, we'll get through this Hitler stage. Yeah.

[Henry Zebrowski]

It's kind of how Cheney used Bush.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah.

[Ed Larson]

Now, frustratingly, there was actually a moment in time when Hitler's right wing movement might have been stopped before it gained too much steam. This moment came when Hitler figured he had enough men to do what so many others had tried and failed to do before. Hitler was gonna make a run for a coup with the infamous beer hall Poust of 1923. During this short failed attempt, thousands of Nazi stormtroopers marched with Hitler through the streets of Munich. The day after Hitler had taken over a political rally in a beer hall. I love the name of the beer hall. Burger Brauchella. With 600 of his goons and a machine gun. The capture of the beer hall had filled Hitler with a false sense of confidence. He figured he had it in the bag. But when he marched to the center of Munich to fully take over the Bavarian government the next day, the Bavarian paramilitary opened fire with many machine guns and killed 16 Nazis while three of their own were killed as well. Hitler ran away, barely injured, while top notch Nazi Herman Goring was badly wounded in the groin.

[Marcus Parks]

God, you should have got. She got shot in the dick.

[Ed Larson]

Hitler was tracked down and sent to prison. But even though his actions had led to the deaths of 19 people, he was given the incredibly light sentence of five years. Five years.

[Marcus Parks]

It is fascinating though because like right there and then the whole thing could have been over. Yeah, right there and then the whole thing could have been over if they had really. If they really put the boot down on him, which they tried to do. Several they. And then after this we'll see. Well, they do. They will try. There will be a giant emergency attempt at some point to stop the rolling train, but it's already too late.

[Ed Larson]

It is far too late. By the time they realize they can't control Hitler and that he's not just useful, it's way too late.

[Marcus Parks]

Oh yeah.

[Ed Larson]

Now, since Himmler wasn't fully into the Nazis just yet, he did not participate directly in the beer hall pushed with Hitler. Instead he was with Ernst Rome and his men that day. They actually, actually they were the only ones who had the. The only successful action of the put. Like they occupied the War Ministry by barricading themselves in with barbed wire and machine guns. This group, however, negotiated a peaceful end with the Bavarian paramilitary. Rome was arrested, but Himler was allowed to go free, Although he lost his job and had to move back in with his parents because of his involvement with the coup.

[Marcus Parks]

But this is the key. This is like one of the big keys. His Himmler going back to live with his parents. Yes. Yeah.

[Henry Zebrowski]

In their basement.

[Ed Larson]

Y so as the year ticked over to 1924, Hitler was in jail, the Nazis were banned by the government, and Ernst Rome had left the party soon after the coup over an argument he had with Hitler. Although he would return six years later. You know what he did? He went and he ran the Bolivian army for a while. Yeah, he was actually like the proto. Like, yeah, let's go to South America. Let's check that out.

[Marcus Parks]

Let's check this out. Oh, actually, it's kind of nice. Hold on. He killed Butch and Sundance.

[Ed Larson]

Oh, wow.

[Marcus Parks]

Whoa. What if he did?

[Ed Larson]

Well, this was the moment when life was looking up in Germany. While things weren't perfect or even all that stable, the Weimar Republic had finally started to gain its footing as a legitimate power that could provide an actual life for the German people. The economic and political systems have begun to stabilize. Germany joined the League of Nations in an attempt to return to the world stage. And the German people were creating incredible art, movies, and music. While Hitler was in prison writing his bullshit fucking book, the people people of Germany were enjoying Bertolt Brecht's Threepenny Opera, Fritz Lang's Metropolis, and the surrealist masterpieces of Max Ernst. And this is just three examples of all kinds of incredible art coming out of Germany in the 20s. In other words, it looked like Germany might be on a comeback, having narrowly missed a right wing takeover. But tragically, in an example of how the world has been interconnected for well over a century, despite claims that globalization is a relative, relatively recent phenomenon, the Weimar Republic was absolutely destroyed by America's Great depression. How since everything is kind of interconnected, you know, there are people that, you know, Americans that had invested in Germany, you know, that. And since all of these things, you know, were kind of, you know, all. Since all these things were related to each other. When America's economy fell, Germany's economy absolutely fell apart.

[Marcus Parks]

Well, they were also like the first. That was like an extension of us in a way, too. We were all over Germany at that point. We were deeply extended. So when all of that went down, we were doing all. Once we were knocked out because we were the new financial superpower. And then all of a sudden, we're knocked off the board.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah. And the consequences of the Great Depression, they actually hit Germany harder than even America due to the fragile nature of the Weimar Republic. Their unemployment was far worse than ours was. Hyperinflation came, return of economic instability allowed the far right parties like the Nazis back inside. Just as they were about to be kicked into the dustbin of history, they were able to say, look, this is what you get with the Weimar Republic. Even though it was, it had nothing to do with the Weimar Republic. It had everything to do with the greed of American stockbrokers, you know, doing what they did that led to the Great Depression. And, but they were able, the Nazis were in these right wing fox are able to use anything and everything and say like, look, look, this is why things are bad. Give it to us, we're gonna make it better. We're gonna make it great again. Everything's gonna be fine if you only give us all the power in the world. And in the end, Hitler ended up serving nine months for starting a coup that resulted in the deaths of 19 people. Additionally, Hitler gained another victory in February of 1925 when the ban on the Nazi party was lifted after Hitler made made a solemn promise to, quote, obey the law.

[Marcus Parks]

See, and that's, I mean that's as good as a, that you better want to hold on to some of these IOUs for a Lamborghini. You might want to hold on to that.

[Ed Larson]

But while Hitler had been in prison, Heinrich Himmler had done what a lot of frustrated, unemployed young men who had to move back in with their parents have done over the decades. He immersed himself in the occult.

[Marcus Parks]

Yay.

[Ed Larson]

And that's when where we'll pick back up next week for part two.

[Marcus Parks]

That's where all Zabrowski comes in.

[Ed Larson]

Hitler's out of jail, Himmler's getting into the occult. And shit's about to really start popping off in Nazi Germany. It's about to. It's about to become Nazi Germany.

[Marcus Parks]

I can smell the Vrilla bubbling. It's tossed salad and scrambled eggs. This is good, but I don't know what that is. And scrambled eggs, this is only the beginning.

[Ed Larson]

Scrambled eggs.

[Marcus Parks]

Oh my. Patreon.com podcast watch that Nazi information roll on by.

[Ed Larson]

What is a boy to do?

[Marcus Parks]

What is a boy to do? Come check out patreon.com watch us talk about Nazis live. Go to LP on the left to watch us do social media about Nazis for the next month and a half. It's about evil looking for new merch, new ideas, send them down the pipe and then go to our YouTube channels. And check out all our new @LPN TV. Someplace underneath LPN Romancy, no doubt. Dogs in Space and the Foreign Report.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Hell yeah, man. And we're coming out. We're coming to you. We're gonna be in Milwaukee really soon on October 11th at the PABS Theater. Come check us out there. And then in. We're gonna be in Oakland on October 25th at the Fox Theater. And then. All right, Cleveland rescheduled. Official.

[Marcus Parks]

This is official.

[Henry Zebrowski]

This is official. We are coming on the same day, November 29th. We're going to Akron at the Goodyear Theater.

[Marcus Parks]

Nobody's happy about this. No.

[Ed Larson]

Yes. Not even the people of Akron.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah. Nobody's happy about.

[Ed Larson]

It's not our fault. We didn' did the best we could. We tried, but. Yeah. The best we could do.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Yeah. So we're gonna be. It's only 40 minutes away, so please still come out to the show. If you had tickets in Cleveland, you will be able to transfer them over, correct?

[Marcus Parks]

I believe that that is true.

[Ed Larson]

Yeah.

[Marcus Parks]

Yes.

[Ed Larson]

All right.

[Henry Zebrowski]

If not, you can flood our emails and yell at us.

[Marcus Parks]

Honestly, don't. Because we have no control over that. You have to actually go to where you got the tickets get and get them refunded. It's every fault I decided he did this. I specifically need to say we can't control. We don't know anything about the tickets. Please, love a Christ, go to where they gave you the tickets. We'll help you.

[Ed Larson]

I'm gonna go ahead and say they sent you an email. Read it carefully. Email is gonna care. Is gonna clearly tell you what you need to do.

[Marcus Parks]

We don't know.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Henry's phone number is 51 3. And of course we're coming to Portland Revolution Hall, December 12th and 13th. We got more dates coming. Also, if you are in Wisconsin, I'm doing an extra show while we're in Town on October 12th. I'm going to the comedy on State with my buddy Logan Metz. From the promise of the Real. It's going to be a badass show. Come check us out there. That's it.

[Marcus Parks]

Love it.

[Ed Larson]

All right, well, hell, Satan on how Geen, you know what?

[Marcus Parks]

Honestly, I've learned nothing. Yes. How am I not surprised? Gonna keep barreling forward exactly as I was.

[Henry Zebrowski]

I got a good hail today, guys. Hail the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.

[Marcus Parks]

Yeah.

[Ed Larson]

Two, three, four. We are the Jumbo Shrimp, here to play a game.

[Marcus Parks]

Champions. Minor League champions. 20, 25 Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. Way to get them, boys.

[Ed Larson]

One more.

[Marcus Parks]

Two, three, four. We are the Jumbo Shrimp, here to play a game.

[Henry Zebrowski]

Marching in single file, shrimp stepping their way.

[Ed Larson]

You know what?

[Marcus Parks]

I'll say. You know what's nice is that shrimp. It's a kosher meat. Yeah. You know.

[Ed Larson]

No, it's not. It's the opposite.

[Marcus Parks]

You can't do it.

[Ed Larson]

They can't have shrimp. They actually can't have shrimp.

[Marcus Parks]

That's another hateful thing that we've done today.

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[Ed Larson]

Oh, hey, friends, this sale's for you.

[Marcus Parks]

The DSW Friends and family event is on.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

DSW VIP members get 25% off almost everything in stores and online for a limited time.

[Marcus Parks]

Don't miss out. This only happens twice a year. Not a vip.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

You're still family to us. Join for free to get in on the savings.

[Marcus Parks]

Plus, VIPs always get free shipping on anything.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Save on must own shoes today when.

[Marcus Parks]

You shop the DSW Friends and Family event at your DSW store or dsw.com.